


Deceit

by Illumini



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Cybercrimes, Human Bill Cipher, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:20:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 53,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illumini/pseuds/Illumini
Summary: When Dipper decides to live with his Grunkle Stan he expects to lead a normal and boring student life. However one day he finds a USB-stick hidden in the forest of Gravity falls and suddenly a blond man is showing up and informs Dipper that his Grunkle is hiding far more secrets than he would expect. Slowly Dipper’s life is spiralling down into a web made of lies and deceit.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher/Ford Pines
Comments: 73
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Gravity Falls and all its characters belong to Alex Hirsch/Disney~~
> 
> My first AU!! Woop, woop! Originally I planned to do a Mafia AU, but somehow it turned into something different. The plot will loosely follow the original one, so there will be some AHA!-moments here and there. Please don’t be mad, but I left Mabel out on purpose. She still exists, but doesn’t play any bigger part in here.   
> Also very important: magic or any other supernatural things don’t exist here, too. Bill is human as is everyone else.  
> As always I meant to write a dark angsty fic, but failed to do so, bc I love my boys too much. Although I like to read such stuff, I can’t write it myself.   
> Another thing, yes smut will happen, but later on, because this will be a rather long story. Stay tuned!   
> Thanks in advance for any comment/kudos!

It was Saturday and Grunkle Stan was banging on Dipper’s door for the third time this morning.

“You will come down now or I will make you! Your choice!”

Dipper, who had been awake for some hours, was sitting on the mattress with his laptop on his lap. It was only his second week in Gravity Falls and he already very much regretted his choice to move in with his Grunkle.

He flinched, when Stan tried to open the door, although it was locked. For a moment Dipper considered the possibility that Stan would kick the door open, but he reckoned that the old man would not willingly destroy his own property.

Soon Dipper heard the man curse all the way down back into the first floor.

“I should have never agreed to this! What was I thinking?”

Dipper couldn’t agree more with his Grunkle and he turned back to his laptop and with a sigh he closed it and stood up.

He didn’t remember when exactly he had agreed that working part time in the Mytery Shack would become a part of the deal that he was allowed to live with Stan, but somehow his Grunkle was too persistent to give up on this. Dipper hated it already.

There was a reason why he had chosen this particular university for his study and there was a reason why he did not live in a dormitory together with a thousand other people. But Stan would hear nothing of it.

“Stubborn old man!” Dipper huffed and picked up some clothes for the day.

However before he joined Stan in the shop he stopped by the bathroom and afterwards had some quick breakfast. He enjoyed the silence of being alone for the last time, before he stepped out into the shop that was part of the house and part of the infamous Mystery Shack.

Much to Dippers relief, there were no customers yet and Dipper shuffled towards his Grunkle that was standing at the checkout, counting the money.

“About time!” he huffed and continued to flip through the notes.

Dipper leaned against the wall, patiently waiting to receive some instructions.

When Stan was finished counting, he closed the register and turned to Dipper and gave a quick glance at his watch.

“I have a tour at 9:00, so please take over the shop. Watch out for thieves and you know, no refunds.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and pushed himself from the wall, taking his assigned post.

“Yeah I know, anything else?”

“No, that’s all,” Stan grumbled and left the shop to greet the five tourists that were already expectantly waiting in front of the building.

For a moment Dipper watched his Grunkle happily greeting everyone and then he led them around the house and Dipper lost sight of them.

He didn’t understand why people wanted to pay for this kind of attraction, but he had to admit that his Grunkle was very good at selling his “Mysteries”. Maybe this was exactly why people kept coming. Although they knew that everything was fake, the enjoyed being part of the farce.

Of course, some of the people visiting the Shack believed in Gnomes, Demons and Unicorns and Dipper had a very hard time dealing with them.

He himself had stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago. If anything he believed in science and facts.

When the doorbell chimed Dipper looked up and saw a few kids entering the shop, accompanied by their parents.

“Welcome,” Dipper mumbled and avoided eye contact. He really wasn’t good with children, therefore he was glad that the parents had come along too.

“Excuse me,” the women walked up to Dipper and he unconsciously made a step backwards, “my kids need to pee. Do you have a bathroom here?”

Dipper nodded and pointed into the direction.

“Thank you.” The women smiled politely and gathered here children. When she was out of sight, Dipper sighed with relief. He wasn’t good at this, at any of this. However, before he could relax again the father of the children casually walked over and leaned against the desk.

“This is really a nice place! The woods here are so green and the air! The air! It’s so crisp! You don’t have this in L.A. do you? Have you been to L.A. once?”

Dipper was shocked that the man had dared to intrude his space.

“I wouldn’t know,” he replied shortly and hoped this wouldn’t encourage the other to continue speaking. He was so wrong.

“You know, my wife and my kids, we live there. It’s really crowded, nothing like this place,...” Dipper soon zoomed out of the conversation since the man didn’t ask any more questions, but only kept on talking.

When Dipper spotted the wife returning from the bathroom, he counted the seconds until he would finally be alone again.

But much to Dipper’s shock, the door rang again and two odd looking men came into the shop. In this very moment Dipper was kind of glad that the family was still happily exploring the products.

Both men were wearing black suits. While one looked a little gothic with black hair, pierced ears and a necklace with an upside down cross, the other was kind of burly, a vacant expression on his face.

When they spotted Dipper, they casually walked over as if they were old friends.

“Hey boy,” the gothic looking man called over, “where is the old man?”

Dipper assumed that he meant Stan, but somehow a cold shiver was running down his spine and his throat felt dry.

“Now, now, don’t worry. We are old friends of his.” The black haired man leaned over the desk, his eyes locked on Dipper.

The brunet made another step backwards, but hit the shelve behind him. Before Dipper could answer however, the door swung open and all eyes were on Stan.

“Stan!” The black haired man cheered and left Dipper alone, walking over to his Grunkle.

Stan glanced at Dipper and then at the two men in front of him.

“Good to see you, too. I thought you would come tomorrow. Didn’t expect you now. But no matter. Come on, come on, best have our little reunion in my office.”

“But of course you are right old Stan!”

Stan made a gesture with his hand that invited the two men to follow him. When he passed Dipper he gave him a short nod.

“Watch the shop!” he reminded Dipper and then he closed the door to his office behind him a bit vehemently.

Feeling relief wash over him, Dipper had nearly forgotten about the family that was still inside the shop. Initially Dipper had meant to tiptoe towards the office door, but his plan fell to pieces, when the young mother walked over.

“Excuse me again, do you have this shirt also smaller?”

Sighing, Dipper walked over and rummaged through the shirts unit until he found the desired object.

When Dipper was finally rid of the customers the door to Stan’s office opened again and the men emerged. Everyone was smiling and Stan wished them a goodbye, happily waving after them. Turning around he saw Dipper’s questioning gaze.

“None of your business,” he grumbled and hid himself again in his room.

Late at night Dipper was back in the safety of his room and he couldn’t help but wonder about today's strange events. There had been something very off about the two men, but Dipper couldn’t place a finger on it. Also his Grunkle avoided the topic at all costs. When Dipper had asked him about the men during dinner he had slammed his beer onto the table and sent him to his room like a child.

However Dipper was 22. He had a drivers license and was allowed to legally drink alcohol, not that he was interested in this, but still. Anyways his Grunkle only saw him as a small boy.

Dipper remembered only little from his childhood, when he and his twin sister Mabel had been allowed to visit their Grunkle.

From what Dipper did remember, his Grunkle had once been a very smart person, he often wondered what had happened that Stan was now leading a rather simple life, rejecting any kind of technology.

Actually Dipper would have never believed that one day he would live in Gravity Falls for real. Of all places in the world it had to be here!

But Dipper had made his choice. The university here was the best when it came to computer science and math. Also it was the only one that allowed Dipper to take most of the courses remotely, since he didn’t feel comfortable around others.

One year ago he had passed the acceptance test and had become the top ranking student and with this he had received some privileges. No one doubted his skills and the professors gave him free reign. He only needed to show up for actual tests and some other formal stuff and that was why Dipper’s parents had had the idea that Dipper could live with his Grunkle.

Since his Grunkle would never say no to some extra money and a free ~~servant~~ temp, he had soon agreed and Dipper had packed his stuff and drove to Gravity Falls.

The city however had changed a lot since his last visit.

It wasn’t the small town from once, but it was buzzing with life! Several very successful start-ups from here had become rich and soon, there had been many more to try their luck. Some big office buildings and skyscrapers were lined up in the heart of the city as well as clubs, bars and restaurants.

Still Dipper knew nothing of this. The Mystery Shack was outside the town, hidden in the woods, safe from the trouble and rush of the city.

It was just the way Dipper liked it best. Every time he had to drive into the city, he felt anxious. There were too many people, everywhere. It wasn’t that Dipper hated people, he just, wasn’t very good at dealing with them, very much unlike his sister. She was everybody’s darling and he envied her for this.

Dipper had given up to be likeable a long time ago. He focused on his coding abilities and this had made him quite famous around certain people. Not the kind of famous like on TikTok or Insta, but he was well known for his abilities.

Although he was still a student, very often big companies were reaching out for his help. This was enough for Dipper to make him feel valuable. Therefore working at the Shack was very much below his abilities and he only put up with it, because he didn’t want to anger his Grunkle.

Right now Dipper was checking a website for a company that had reached out to him, because they were suffering under cyber attacks on their payment system.

It wasn’t a very difficult task and Dipper checked his course assignment at the same time. He yawned and checked the time.

“Ugh, so late already,” Dipper cursed and put the laptop away and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Doing all-nighters was a bad habit of his. He usually didn’t need much sleep, however Stan made him get up much earlier than he usually would, therefore it wasn’t a good idea to stay awake longer than midnight.

Sunday was the day where most tourists came to the Mystery Shack and Dipper grudgingly took care of the shop again. Stan was busy giving one Mystery Tour after another and Dipper tried his best to avoid eye contact with every customer and he refrained from any unnecessary conversation.

In the evening after a very long day, Stan came back into the shop and patted Dipper’s shoulder.

“Kid, thanks for the help. I do the rest.”

Dipper took the chance to leave without hesitation. He went over to the old vending machine and bought a soda. Although he was a staff member, he would not receive any free food or drinks.

“I’ll be outside,” Dipper announced and waved at his Grunkle who only gave him a short nod.

Dipper enjoyed his walks through the woods. He never thought that this would become some kind of evening routine for him, but somehow the calm of the forest was easily restoring his low energy level.

Sipping his drink every now and then, Dipper explored a new path, carefully making sure that he would be able to remember his way back. Sometimes he also put some tiny landmarks at the side like colourful stones or tree branches, to mark the right way.

Throughout the last weeks he had explored nearly half of the woods. At least all the parts that still had some kind of path left.

Soon the path turned into a dead end. Dipper sighed and looked around for another way. However he was blinded by a reflection coming from somewhere out of the woods. Squinting Dipper tried to find the source. The sun was already setting behind him and it would only be a matter of time until the reflection would vanish together with the light.

Without thinking Dipper sprinted forwards, always following the light. In the end he reached a small clearing with a strange pillar in the middle.

When Dipper approached it, he knocked at it a few times and realized that it was made from metal which was the reason for the reflection.

Why someone would place such a thing in the middle of the woods, Dipper couldn’t tell, still he felt some kind of rush and took a closer look.

His hands explored the smooth surface until he suddenly found something like a lock. Now this was even more curious. Because the lock had become rusty through the years, Dipper could easily break it open. His eyes went wide, when a small hole revealed something hidden inside.

Carefully Dipper reached out for it, trying not to cut himself on the rusty edges.

The item in his hand was a small sachet and Dipper opened it carefully. The moment he emptied the content into his hand, his mouth fell open.

It was a tiny USB-Stick that he held in his palm. Incredulously he held the item up and turned it a few times around to make sure he wasn’t making things up.

Without a doubt, it was an USB-Stick! If Dipper was confused a few minutes ago, he felt now a rush of excitement and confusion.

Who would hide such a thing inside a forest and even more importantly: why? Dipper returned the stick into the sachet and put it into his pocket, before he hastily made his way back home.

Dipper felt his heart hammering inside his ears, when he sat on his bed again and was about to connect the stick to his laptop. He had only briefly greeted Stan when he had returned and grabbed some food, before he went back into his room and locked the door.

Of course he always locked his door, but this time it had felt particularly suspicious. Stand wouldn’t mind either way, but for Dipper it made a huge difference. This time he felt like he indeed had something to hide as if he was about to watch some porn and didn’t want his Grunkle to know.

Maybe he would indeed find porn saved on the stick or some kind of virus with which he would kill his laptop and all his data.

Not that Dipper wouldn’t know how to deal with a virus on his PC. Sometimes he would write some virus himself just for fun. Still, restoring data was always such a hassle and he would gladly avoid it if possible.

His hand holding the stick still hovered next to his laptop. He mentally congratulated himself for the decision to buy a laptop that still had USB access.

“Ok Dipper, here goes nothing,” he whispered and connected the device with his PC.

It got recognized immediately and Dipper tried to open the content.

**[PASSWORD:...]**

The word was blinking on the screen in red letters.

Dipper tilted his head. Now this was getting interesting!

The next morning Dipper nearly fell down the stairs down to the kitchen. He had deep dark circles under his reddened eyes and he was yawning with every step. His Grunkle was already in the shop, therefore no one was asking him annoying questions when his head nearly dropped into his bowl of cereals.

The last night had been...interesting, to say the least. Dipper had never bothered to try and type any kind of password. He had his own ways of getting around passwords with a program that he had invented himself. It was very much foolproof and usually it would decode any kind of password even if it was a hash code.

But after a few seconds something had happened that Dipper had not expected. The screen started to flash in red and the file he was trying to access told him, that because of a severe security breach the content of the USB-Stick would be wiped out within the next 15 minutes.

Dipper nearly had a heart failure and in order to stop the deletion from happening his hands flew practically over the keyboard in order to undo his hacking attempt.

Never in his whole career had Dipper seen something this tricky, he even doubted that something like this had ever excised before. It was so ingenious, Dipper had to bow before the inventor. Still, he didn’t want the files to become snuffed out, therefore his brain was working on overload.

It had only been around 4:30 am when the screen finally turned back to the initial [PASSWORD:...].

“Damn it!!” Dipper cursed and fell back into the mattress. He held his arms above his eyes and allowed them some well earned rest. He must have fallen asleep at that time, because when he woke up, the laptop was still standing next to him and Dipper was wearing his normal daytime clothes.

Poking in his cereals, Dipper frowned. He had to find out what data was on the stick, he just had to! There was nothing more important than this. It felt like his whole life would depend upon this task, like he would only be worthy, when he surpassed the genius that had invented this complicated software in the first place.

Also Dipper made up his mind, that he wouldn’t tell Stan about it, at least not yet. There was no need to worry the old man.

The rest of the week passed much the same. Dipper had a hard time to concentrate on his stuff for university and he even missed a deadline for a project he agreed in for another company. Nothing he couldn’t solve with a few additional all-nighters, but Dipper craved to work on the mystery that the USB-Stick kept secret.

All his remaining free-time, and with Grunkle Stan forcing him to work in the shack, it was little, he sat in front of his laptop and tried to work his way around the protective protocol. Once he nearly reactivated the deletion, but this time he was much faster in stopping it.

At the end of the week he hadn’t come much closer to unlock the files than he had been in the beginning and it was getting on his nerves.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Sunday evening and the shop was nearly deserted. Dipper longed for the hour, when he was free to return to his room and back to his laptop, but then suddenly the doorbell chimed and the strange men from last weekend entered the store again. They looked exactly the same like they had last time. Before Dipper could do anything and he wasn’t even sure what he should have done, his Grunkle came from his office and greeted the two persons.

“Hey! How are you? Just give me a second. Dipper?” Stan came over and pressed a garbage bag into Dipper’s hands.

“Here, get this to the trash, it’s smelly!” Stan ordered and indicated with his head into the direction of the trash container, that just happened to be standing on the other side of the house.

Dipper of course understood that he wasn’t welcome right now and he took the bag and slammed the door behind him.

His Grunkle had never struck him as a person that would be keeping secret. Hell! He even walked naked down every corridor when he felt like it, there was nothing he even remotely tried to hide!

Dipper ground his teeth, opened the lid of the trash-container and dumped the bag inside. Angrily he kicked the container again and then he turned around.

Very much to his surprise there was a person standing in the evening sun in the middle of the backyard-lawn. He had his back facing Dipper and seemed to be lost deep in thought.

For a moment Dipper was a little mesmerized by the man. He was tall and even though he was wearing a black overcoat it was easy to spot that he was quite muscular. His blonde hair was slicked back with gel and the way the sun illuminated it, made it look like a halo.

“Hey, what are you looking at, Pine Tree?”

For a few moments Dipper was completely petrified. The blond man in front of him had turned around and his eyes were fixed on Dipper.

Still Dipper looked left and right, wondering if maybe the person was speaking to someone else.

The stranger suddenly started to laugh and pointed now directly at Dipper.

“I mean you! There’s a Pine Tree on your cap,” the smile the man gave Dipper was rather disarming and Dipper unconsciously took down his cap and looked at in in bewilderment. Of course he knew that all staff members of the Mystery Shack were wearing a cap like this with a blue Pine Tree on the front, however right now he seemed to look at it for the first time.

Realizing that he must be looking like a fool, Dipper snapped his head back up to the man and cautiously made a few steps into his direction.

“Right, sorry Sir, can I help you?”

The man flashed him another smile and Dipper held his breath because although the man had really beautiful features, there was something off about his eyes. Now that Dipper was close enough to see, he realized that they had a different colour each. One was golden and the other one was blue. Dipper had never seen something like this before.

“My Name is Bill Cipher,” the man held out a hand for Dipper, which Dipper shook after some hesitation.

“Dipper...Dipper Pines,” he mumbled, not sure why he told a complete stranger his name.

“Oh a Pines, nice to meet you! However, I’ve never seen you around here before,” Bill stated and turned around, so that he would be completely facing Dipper.

Beneath the black undercoat Bill was wearing grey dress pants, a white shirt with a tight fitting waistcoat and a black tie. He looked like he was going to a formal event and Dipper couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed for wearing his washed out jeans, t-shirt and favourite navi-blue hoodie. The man in front of him could easily be mistaken for a model, while Dipper looked like a no-one. In order to hide his embarrassment, Dipper put his cap back on and pulled the front down, to hide his eyes.

“I only moved here a few weeks ago,” Dipper replied and let go of Bill’s hand again.

“Is that so?” Bill’s eyes were sparkling with interest.

“So you live here at the Mystery Shack?”

Dipper nodded, although reluctantly. He usually wasn’t very open about his private affairs, especially not towards strangers.

“Then you must know Stan-ford? Do you?” There was a certain ring to the way Bill emphasized his Grunkles name.

Again Dipper nodded, wondering if he should hurry to return back into the shop. He had nearly forgotten about the two bullies that Stan was dealing with right now.

However Dipper’s attention was pulled back to Bill, when the man spoke again.

“You know, I’m an old friend of the family.”

Now Dipper eyed him even more dubiously. Stan had quite a bunch of old friends that looked remarkably suspicious.

“Ok, then why don’t you come in and say hello? I’m sure Stan will be happy to see you again,” Dipper proposed and meant to turn around and lead the way back.

Bill however didn’t follow and Dipper turned again.

“You know kid, we didn’t part on good terms. But I still like to visit every now and then.”

Dipper raised his eyebrows questioningly. It seemed that everyone liked to keep him in the dark.

“However, if you ever feel interested in my part of the story, feel free to reach out to me,” Bill produced a business card from out of his pocket and held it out to Dipper.

The brunet took the card and gave it a short glance.

“Thanks,...I...I need to go back to the shop now. I’m still working. Have a nice day Mister Cipher.”

Dipper waved at the blond man and quickly went around the house to escape the strange aura that Bill was emanating.

He also tried not to take one last glance at the man and Dipper stuffed the business card into his pocket before he entered the shop again.

Stan was already standing behind the register, his look his usual gruff expression.

“Did you get lost? You will have to work this overtime, without compensation.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Dipper nodded, while he tried to spot any of the strange men outside the building. Much to his chagrin, there was no one to be seen, not even Bill. Wondering where Bill had come from and how he could vanish like a ghost in the middle of nowhere, he kept a close eye on the street. Yet no car left the grounds nor anything else. This street was the only official way to get to the Shack, therefore Bill must have used a different path, which made Dipper even more wary.

Later in the evening when Dipper and Stan had dinner together, Dipper found the courage to speak about today's events.

“I met someone today, when I went to the trash container.”

“Aha? A squirrel?” Stan laughed and slammed a fist on the table making his beer can tremble.

“No, not quite” Dipper hesitated a moment,”he said his name was Bill Cipher and that he is a friend of yours.”

The smile was instantly wiped off his Grunkle’s face. It seemed that his face first lost all the colour and then turned into a deep shade of red. When Stan jumped from his chair, the latter fell to the ground.

“You will never speak to this man again! Do you hear me Dipper Pines!”

Dipper, who had not expected his Grunkle to explode like a volcano, felt strongly attacked by the other and also stood up.

“It’s not like I invited him to your place! He was just standing there!” Although Dipper hadn’t done anything wrong, he felt the strong urge to defend himself.

“It doesn’t matter if he was standing there or flying! You will avoid this man!”

“Why?” Dipper’s voice nearly broke due to his frustration.

“Because I say so! As long as you are sharing my house with me you will do as you are told!”

The old man screamed at the top of his lungs and held out one accusing hand at Dipper, who couldn’t help but feel ten years again.

“I’m not a child, Stan,” Dipper replied, carefully avoiding to start screaming, too. He hated it when people became overpowered by their emotions.

“Yeah! Then you should have learned which people are the good ones and which are not! Bill Cipher is not a good person!”

“Ok, what has he done?” Dipper asked defiantly crossing his arms in front of his chest. God knew why Dipper sounded as if he was defending this man.

“That’s none of your business!” Stan gruffed, finally calming down again.

“How am I supposed to understand, if you don’t tell me anything?” Dipper pleaded, opening his arms again.

“I said it’s none of your business and I won’t say anything more,” Stan turned around and left the room, slamming the kitchen door behind him.

Confused Dipper fell down on his chair again. His head resting on his hands he could hardly believe what just had happened. He remained immobile like this for a few minutes, before he remembered the business card inside his pocket and he quickly went up into his room and locked the door behind him.

He sat down on his bed and opened his laptop. For once the riddle around the USB-Stick was completely forgotten.

Dipper pulled out the card and read each line. There was Bill’s name, mobile number, business number and an E-Mail. It didn’t say what kind of business Bill was running nor where he was living.

Dipper entered Bill’s name into a search engine and he was very much surprised that he had no hit at all that was related to a person. There was no Facebook, nor LinkedIn account, nothing. Next he checked the phone numbers, but these were also coming back as blank.

“Interesting,” Dipper whispered and scratched his chin. Either this was a fake name or the person was very talented at avoiding the world wide web.

Even Dipper couldn’t hide his existence from the whole web. It was always a lot of trouble asking his sister to remove any pictures that she had taken with him and also that she would not tag him with his real name.

For a minute Dipper considered calling Bill with suppressed number, then he felt a little childish for such a though and he pulled his laptop closer and started to type an E-mail.

He typed and then he deleted everything again and put the laptop aside.

He knew he was only doing this to spite his Grunkle, but he was also doing this, because he just had to find out what was actually going on. Even if Bill’s view might be biased it was better than noting. Maybe he could mediate between both parties and solve their conflicts.

With a sigh, Dipper took the laptop again and typed another mail.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.de)com

[ _Dear Mister Cipher,_

_thank you for the brief meeting today and for your contact details. However I must inform you, that your friend Stanford does not allow me to contact you again. Please don’t hold it against him._

_Best Regards,_ ]

Closing his eyes, Dipper pressed the send button and threw the laptop to the side as if it was burning his fingers.

Of course Dipper knew that the text sounded a lot like “Meet me and tell me everything”, but that had been his general idea in the first place.

The only thing that worried Dipper was, what he would do if Bill would not reply or if the E-Mail did not even exist.

The thought disturbed Dipper in such a way that it made his stomach churn. Also Dipper realized that his hands had started to get sweaty and that he was shaking a little.

“Ugh, this can’t be true, I’m acting like a teenager,” Dipper stood up again and paced through his room, stopping in front of the window and looking outside. There was actually nothing to see, since it was in the middle of the night and the woods outside was pitch-black.

When Dipper heard the sound that announced an incoming E-Mail he nearly flew back to his laptop. His heartbeat had doubled and it even skipped a beat, when Dipper realized that Bill had send him a reply.

From: [dreamdemon@gold.](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.de)com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Still awake Pine Tree? You can call me Bill by the way._

_Stan will never change I guess. In case you are brave enough to brake his rules, meet me tomorrow at the Club ‘Nightmare Realm’ 11:00 pm._

_Buy gold, bye!_ ]

Dipper’s eyes were glued to the screen. He was holding his breath while he read the message a second and a third time. Never in his life had he been this exited, not even before his entrance exam results had been announced.

He had to admit, that the last part of the message was a little worrisome, but maybe this was some kind of quote Dipper didn’t get.

He meant to reply immediately, but his dignity stopped him. He was behaving like a love crazy girl. He would consider the offer and reply tomorrow. Sealing his resolve he closed the laptop and got ready for the night.

Of course he didn’t find any sleep and around 3:00 am he replied:

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.de)com

[ _C U_ ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Bill is here, which is making the story much better from now on.
> 
> Thanks for any kudo/comment <3<3<3


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Stan avoided Dipper every time their paths crossed. Although Dipper felt a little sad about it, this was the perfect condition in order to sneak out of the house late at night.

Dipper could hardly think of anything else and for the first time in his life he struggled doing his assignments from university. Every time he started to read through it the words became blurry and Dipper caught himself back on google maps, extracting all the data he could find about the club ‘The Nightmare Realm’.

It was a 45 minutes drive and there were plenty of parking slots provided in the area around it. The place where it was located was rather shady, but the club had a five star rating on Google. Customer’s seemed to have been very pleased with the service and the beautiful staff members as well as the entertainment in general. Dipper wondered what that was supposed to mean, but he tried not to think too much about it. Yes, Dipper had been to a club once or twice in his life. His sister had made sure about it. Still he had never liked it. The music was too loud, the dance area was overcrowded with people that started drinking and behaving like they were out of their minds. Dipper liked to have complete control over his mind, therefore he usually didn’t drink and excused himself with being the driver.

On top Dipper had no idea what he was supposed to wear for such occasions. From the description of the location Dipper reckoned that as long as he wasn’t wearing a bag, he would be fine, but he feared that the bouncer might not let him pass, if he failed the first impression. People had been denied access to a certain club for less than wearing the wrong clothes.

It couldn’t be helped. Dipper rummaged through his closet and tried to find something a little fancier than what he would usual be wearing.

In the end he settled on his black jeans, with blue chucks, a not so loose shirt in dark red and a black jacket he usually only wore for formal appointments.

He gave himself a last glance over before he opened his door and peeked into the corridor.

As soon as Stan would spot him wearing the formal jacket, he would be highly suspicious, therefore Dipper stuffed it into a backpack.

He casually walked down the stairs, when he passed the living room, he saw his Grunkle passed out in front of the television like he usually would.

In order not to wake him, Dipper opened and closed the front-door very carefully. Afterwards he walked to his car through the darkness of the night and he also refrained from switching on the headlights. In the middle of the woods any kind of light during the night was suspicious. Slowly he drove past the Shack until he was confident enough to activate the lights, without Stan noticing, in case he was awake again.

Driving towards the city, Dipper felt excitement wash over him. A small part of his brain was telling him that he was acting very reckless and childish, but Dipper couldn’t help but enjoy this small rebellion against Stan. It wasn’t like Dipper felt patronized by him, the old man was probably acting in his best interest. Still, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that these events were connected.

Dipper parked his car around the block and walked the last meters towards the club. From the outside it didn’t look very special. Only the enormous flashing neon triangle with one eye in the middle was hinting at a club inside.

Much to Dipper’s shock, there were indeed two big bouncers standing in front of the entrance. Dipper took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then he tried to look as confident as he could master and walked straight towards the door.

The bouncers however opened the door for Dipper and only gave him a short nod. Dipper was so irritated that he nearly crashed into one of the security men instead of the entrance. He hurriedly went inside and relief washed over him when the door closed behind him again. He had made it inside! He truly had made it!

First thing Dipper was hit with, was the loud music. Yet, it was not at all an unpleasant sound. The music was rather melodic and even a little catchy. Dipper went past the cloakroom, where a smiling young girl was greeting him formally and he then headed for the main room.

The club was huge with two levels. The furnishings were based on a classic theatre with heavy red velvet curtains and plush sofas. There was gold foil everywhere and the atmosphere was rather cosy.

There was even a stage on one side of the area, where musicians were preparing for a show. Out of the corner of his eyes Dipper spotted a young lady with long blond hair, wearing a purple sequin dress. However Dipper got distracted when a women next to him started to giggle.

“Hey there, is this your first time here?”

The women was wearing an apron and not a lot more beneath it, she was holding a tray with champagne.

“Don’t worry,” she winked at him, “you will like it here.”

When she turned around, showing him her bare backside, Dipper’s face went beet red and he quickly looked away. He started to understand now what the comments on Google had been about.

Scanning the area for any glimpse of Bill, Dipper realized that this club was special in many ways. Although Dipper wasn’t a lot into politics nor gossip magazines, even he realized that there were a lot of VIP’s in here. Also a lot of business-men seemed to receive some special treatment by the girls that were working here.

Dipper’s heart was hammering in his ears. Maybe he should leave. Somehow he didn’t feel old enough to be at a place like this. Averting his eyes from a kissing pair of women to his left, Dipper looked up to the first floor, where mismatched eyes met his.

Dipper stopped dead, his eyes wide, when he saw Bill, who had apparently been watching him for quite some time from above.

Bill winked at him and made a gesture that invited Dipper to come upstairs. Pulled forward by Bill’s intense stare, Dipper did as he was told and soon he was heading up the stairs.

On the first floor there were less tables and more private booths, that had the best view towards the stage. Also there was a bar at the far end and a few poles for dancing. Much to Dipper’s relief there was no one dancing right now.

Bill sat in one of the booths and he waved Dipper over.

When Dipper joined Bill inside the booth he immediately realized that the sound was different in here. While outside the booth one had to shout at each other in order to hear a word, inside it, one could easily lead a normal conversation without shouting.

“Hey kid, I’m glad you made it,” Bill gave him a crooked smile and Dipper nodded, too anxious to say anything yet.

Bill was wearing nearly the same outfit from the last time he had seen him, only without the coat and instead of a tie, he was wearing a bowtie, that had a golden brooch in the middle where a triangle with a single eye was engraved.

Now that Bill wasn’t wearing a coat anymore, Dipper could easily tell that Bill must be working out a lot. His broad shoulders and biceps stood out against the fabric of his shirt.

“So, how do you like it here?” Bill asked and held out his hands.

“Ehm,” Dipper was struggling for words, “it’s quite nice, I guess, for a club I mean.”

Before he could say anything more stupid, Dipper was saved by a kind looking girl that was suddenly standing next to him, ready to take their orders, this time fully dressed.

“One Martini please, and one?” Bill ordered and looked at Dipper, who was caught off guard.

“A...Pitt Cola please,” Dipper replied, feeling his cheeks getting red again.

Bill laughed out and leaned towards Dipper.

“Kid! Have a drink! Don’t worry about the price, I invite you.”

“No, thank you,” Dipper waved his hands in front of himself, “I still need to drive back home.”

Bill still smiled and leaned back, giving the waitress a sign that this was their order. The girl happily jumped away and both men were back on their own.

Dipper wrung his hands under the table, trying to find some topic to talk about, however Bill was faster than him.

“So you came hear to hear my side of the story. That’s very noble of you I must say.”

Dipper looked back up at Bill, his heart picking up speed again.

Before Bill could start, the girl was back and served the drinks. In addition she also put some nuts on the table and blew both of them a kiss before she went off, leaving a flustered Dipper behind.

“Let me start like this, Stan is a man that likes to keep his secrets,” Bill put his arms on the table, folded his hands and rested his chin on it, his mismatched eyes fixed on Dipper.

“Did you know that Stan has a twin brother?”

Dipper nearly fell off his chair. This was a bomb! He nearly coughed when he replied.

“No!”

“I thought so,” Bill leaned back again, obviously enjoying the tension between himself and Dipper.

“Well, there is Stanley and Stanford, twins. Stanford was a genius, while Stanley was an unsuccessful looser.”

Dipper wanted to interrupt, but Bill held up a finger and paused him.

“Listen to me first. Stanford was brilliant. He had started his own company which was working in computer science. Back then Stanford and I, we were partners and closely working together. I admired his work! However, Stanford was working on a secret project for years and he must have gotten into trouble somehow. I only learned about it, when it was too late. One day Stanford was gone. All records of his work were erased and even the police was not able to tell us what had happened. Somehow Stanley always suspected me behind all this, since I had become like a brother for Stanford,” Bill paused and shook his head reminiscing.

“Stanley couldn’t live with the loss of his twin and he took over the place that once had been Stanford’s science fortress. He removed all technology from the place and turned it into a petty tourist attraction. He also hid behind Stanford’s name, as if the man had never vanished.”

Dipper’s eyes had become so large, they were nearly falling from the sockets.

“Yes Dipper, the man you know as Stan is leading a double life. In reality his name is Stanley Pines!”

Dipper’s hands were clawing into his jeans. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Why are you telling me this?” Dipper asked breathlessly.

“Because I think Stanley is hiding something. I want to find Stanford! I have to know what happened to him and if he is still alive! Also when he left everything behind, I too, lost everything. It had been my life’s work, too.”

It was very hard for Dipper to hold back his thoughts. His mind was racing with questions, however before he could stop himself he suddenly blurted something out.

“I found a hidden USB-Stick in the woods!”

Now it was Bill’s turn to look rather shocked.

“You...did?”

Dipper nodded and somehow he regretted his sudden outburst.

“Yeah…,” Dipper felt strange the way Bill’s intense eyes were looking at him was giving him goosebumps all over.

“And what was on the stick?” Bill asked slowly.

“I...I don’t know. I’m still working on hacking it.”

“Hacking?” Bill raised an eyebrow and it sounded a little as if he doubted Dipper’s abilities, which instantly infuriated the latter.

“Yes, hacking! It seems that I have something in common with Stanford, because I am too very talented at such things.”

Dipper had no idea why he felt the need to boast in front of Bill, but when Bill gave him a broad smile, it encouraged Dipper to continue.

“I have a program that can decode passwords. However when I tried that one, I activated a self-destruction mechanism.”

“The files are lost?” Bill nearly jumped at him over the table and Dipper had to lean back.

“No, no! I could stop it!! But since then I didn’t get anywhere else.”

“Ah ok,” Bill sat down again. It seemed like he was thinking about something.

“Well, if this is something Stanford has left behind as a clue, maybe I can help you with it?”

Dipper wasn’t 100 percent convinced that teaming up with Bill was a good idea, still he heard himself reply without thinking.

“Yes sure, why not.”

“Good kid.”

Before they could continue their conversation, there was a strange women suddenly appearing next to the table. She was wearing a tight black catsuit and she had shocking pink hair. She ignored Dipper completely and leaned down to Bill and whispered something into his ear.

Bill nodded at her and turned back to Dipper.

“I’m sorry Pine Tree. I have to go, now. Feel free to stay as long as you like and the bill is on me. Don’t miss Pacifica’s performance!”

Bill stood up and followed the woman, leaving a very confused Dipper behind. Before Dipper could decide whether he should leave or not, the music suddenly stopped playing and a spotlight fell on the stage.

“Ladies and gentleman, tonight the magnificent Pacifica Northwest will sing for us. Please enjoy the show!”

Dipper couldn’t help and he leaned a bit over the balustrade to have a better look on the stage. The first thing Dipper saw was a sparkling purple sequin dress, that a beautiful women with long blonde hair was wearing while she positioned herself in front of the microphone.

As soon as she had started singing, Dipper was unable to leave. He listened to her beautiful voice and nearly forgot about all the events that had happened before.


	4. Chapter 4

When Dipper awoke the following day it was with a start. He had forgotten to set his alarm clock and when he checked the time it was already past 1 pm. Either his Grunkle had forgotten about him, or given up, after Dipper had shown no reaction to his knocking.

Hurriedly Dipper sprang from the bed and fetched some new clothes for the day. He sprinted across the floor and into the bathroom, where he took a shower and brushed his teeth in record time.

Before Dipper went down the stairs and back into the shop again, he fetched his phone from his room and checked it for incoming messages.

He nearly fell down the stairs, when he saw an E-Mail from Bill again.

From: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Pine Tree! Last night was a blast!_ _Sorry that I had to leave early._

_I was told that our dear Pacifica made quite the impression on you. I can arrange a meeting in case you are interested._

_Or if you are in for a real adventure, why not come over to my place next Sunday and we have a look at the files you spoke of? Deal?_ ]

Dipper had to resist the urge to answer immediately. He willed himself to return his phone back into his pocket, however the message was all he was able to think of throughout the day.

He felt happy about the fact that Bill had written him only a few hours after they had parted. He probably wouldn’t have written him, if he thought Dipper a lost case. Still, Dipper was a little disappointed about the fact, that their next meeting would only be on Sunday.

Although Dipper’s mind was mostly trying to figure out when the best time for a reply was and what kind of reply he should send, he couldn’t help but notice that his Grunkle was behaving a lot more friendly towards him than all the days before, even when Dipper had shown up late for work.

After Dipper had locked the door to the shop and returned into the kitchen Stan was standing at the stove and preparing a meal.

“Hey Dipper, take a seat! I made some food for us!”

Dipper raised his eyebrows, but did as he was told. Before he sat down he laid out some plates. Then he patiently waited for his Grunkle to serve the meal.

It was nothing special, but Dipper appreciated the gesture nevertheless.

“Thank you,” he took the spaghetti from Stan and garnished it with a little cheese. His Grunkle fetched a beer from the fridge and also sat down opposite Dipper.

Both men ate in silence for a while, before Stan started to awkwardly scratch his neck.

“You know Dipper, I think I was a little overreacting the other day…,” he paused and looked away, “and I want to say sorry.”

Dipper was a little surprised by this soft side of Stan which he had never seen before.

“No problem, it’s ok. You are probably right,” Dipper smiled and felt something stab into his stomach. He hated to lie and he hated it even more right now, when his Grunkle was honest with him.

“I only want to protect you Dipper.”

“I understand, don’t worry,” Dipper assured the old man, who only nodded and in order to hide his emotions he took another big gulp from his beer.

The rest of the evening the tension between both of them was finally gone and they started to talk about the usual stuff they were talking about and watched a little TV together.

Dipper felt really bad, when he returned back into his room and had another look at Bill’s mail.

His Grunkle was hiding a lot of things from him, therefore Dipper shouldn’t feel bad doing the same. He tried to justify his actions as best as he could, but whatever he told himself, the heavy feeling inside his chest remained.

In order to distract himself from it, he tried to type a reply for Bill.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

[ _Hey Bill,_

_thanks for getting back in touch..._ ]

He wondered if he should say something about Pacifica or if that would give Bill a wrong impression. He decided against it.

[. _..and thank you for the invitation._ ]

Now came the tricky part. How should he phrase the reply without sounding too hyped.

[ _I don’t have any plans on Sunday. What time is best for you?_ ]

Dipper tilted his head and read over his words again. He wasn’t very happy about the text, but in the end he ended up pushing [send].

The time after sending a reply was always the worst. He immediately found himself guilty of waiting for a reply. His eyes were glued to the phone, expecting it to announce a new message at any second.

Even when Dipper tried to distract himself with a little work, he couldn’t concentrate on it. When he decided that it was probably best to go to bed early for a change, suddenly the LED on his phone started blinking.

Within seconds Dipper had fetched his phone and checked it for all incoming mails. His heart made a few happy jumps, when he saw a new message from Bill.

From: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Hilarious! Meet me at 2:00 pm at the following a_ _d_ _dress…_ ]

Dipper felt super hyped and couldn’t stop smiling. No way he would fall asleep now. He pulled his laptop closer and opened the mysterious files again. Tapping his nose, Dipper felt a wave of inspiration wash over him.

He had five days to show Bill some results. He was sure Bill would totally lose his mind, when Dipper would be able to show him that he had decoded the password. Maybe Dipper could also already read the files and see if the story that Bill had told him was actually true. Maybe Dipper could find the whereabouts of Stan’s brother!

Adrenaline was flooding his brain and before he knew what had happened the next day had already begun.

“Dipper! Are you there?! You’ll be in ten minutes down in the shop or I swear I will kick in this damn door! I’m serious!!”

Dipper awoke with a start and his opened laptop slid from his legs down onto the mattress. He must have fallen asleep during his work.

He checked the display again, before he closed the laptop again.

**[PASSWORD:...]**

Well, he might not have solved it yet, but he had some breakthrough during the night. Yawning Dipper left his room and got ready for the day.

He was completely working on auto-pilot and he probably looked like zombie. Although Dipper was used to sleep deprivation he felt the weight of it, particularly heavy today.

In the evening he also received an E-Mail from one of his professors.

They were a little worried about his last paper and they asked him to stop by, so that they could assure themselves that he was all right.

“Damn!” Dipper cursed and fell down on his bed. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his head. This was the last thing he needed right now, but he could hardly avoid it. His permission to be working remotely was solely bound to the goodwill of his professors.

He got up again with a sigh and replied in his best top-student-language that they should not worry and that he would show up the next day.

He ground his teeth and closed his laptop again in order to not become tempted to pull the next all-nighter.

When it was only half past eleven, Dipper turned off the lights and pulled his blanket up to his nose. The warmth of his bed made him sleepy, but it wasn’t until two in the morning that Dipper had finally managed to fall asleep for real.

Dipper had chosen one of his more presentable clothes when he got into his car and drove to his university.

After he had parked the car, he walked over the campus and to the office of his professor. He knocked twice and someone from inside called him in.

“Good morning, sir. You wanted to see me?”

“Mister Pines! My dear boy, the genius! How are you? Have a seat!”

“Thank you,” Dipper nodded to the professor that looked like a weasel with his pointy nose and the small glasses on top, that magnified his eyes to an odd degree.

“Mister Pines, you know why I called you in, don’t you?”

Actually Dipper hadn’t seen any big issues with his last paper, therefore he only gave a vague reply.

“You are worried about me?”

“Yes well,” the professor removed his glasses and tried to clean them with the hem of his green jacket.

“Actually there was a report that you have been seen visiting a rather unusual etablissement.”

Dipper swallowed hard, but he tried to look indifferent.

“A what?”

“A nightclub. I was told that you were seen at the so called ‘Nightmare Realm’.”

Dipper was about to ask what the hell was wrong with the place and that this was none of the university's business where he went during his free time, but he held his anger back.

“Ok, why should I go there?”

“Hahaha, yes boy, you are very right! Why indeed! Associating with such a place, that would really not be a good thing for our university’s name!”

“Who said they saw me there?” Dipper inquired.

“Oh my dear boy, I am not in the position to tell you this,” the man in front of him chuckled, he seemed to be happy about the fact that he knew something that Dipper didn’t.

“Just this, Mister Pines. Whatever the reasons, we strongly advise you not to go there anymore, otherwise,” the man met Dipper’s eyes and there was an air of hostility, “otherwise we would have to forward you to a different university.”

Dipper was speechless. He felt that his hands had balled into fists and he tried to keep his voice steady when he replied.

“I understand. Thank you professor.”

“You are very welcome.”

They both shook hands and Dipper left the office again, his eyes burning with suppressed rage. On his way back to his car he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell Gravity Falls was. Everyone had a secret to hide, everyone was acting all sneaky, you couldn’t trust anyone!

He kicked a few stones on the parking lot and desperately tried to calm himself down, before he would start driving again, otherwise he couldn’t guarantee for anything.

He got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. Somehow he couldn’t help but feel watched since the moment he had left his professors office.

Cautiously Dipper inspected his surrounding, but there was no one to be seen. Dipper tried to recall some of the faces he had seen at the night club. Most of the people had either been politicians or famous stars like actors and influencers. None of these people would be interested in Dipper, why should they? They wouldn’t gain anything by snitching on him.

During his drive back to the Mystery Shack Dipper pondered on who would benefit the most, if Dipper got expelled from his university. When he parked his car next to the Shack he had come to the conclusion, that only one of the other students would have some advantage. If the top student left, another student would shine brighter over the rest. Dipper had never paid much attention to the list of people that had started studying with him, but maybe it was time to change this fact.

“How was your meeting with your Prof?” Stan asked, when Dipper opened the door to the shop. He had informed his Grunkle about where he was going to show Stan some appreciation for his openness the other day.

“It was ok I guess. I’m on the right way, but I need to improve a few things. Nothing big.”

Stan nodded and then he scratched his back a little awkwardly as if he wanted to hide some emotions.

“I don’t wanna ruin your education. So, if you need more time to study, just say so. You can have the day off, if you want to.”

Dipper raised his eyebrows. Stan tried his best to make up for his outburst the other day and Dipper felt a warm feeling in his stomach.

“Thank you Stan! Actually I have a lot to do today, so if you need my help, you’ll find me in my room.”

Stan nodded and turned away and Dipper fetched some food from the kitchen, before he returned into his room.

For once he put his laptop on his desk and sat in front of it like a normal human being. He indeed had a lot to work on.

First of all he tracked down all the names of the students that had enrolled this semester together with Dipper.

Next he went through the names one by one and did some background research. He felt a little bad about it, while he skipped through tons of facebook pictures and youtube videos.

Some of the people seemed to have reached some web fame with tedtalks or by participating in hackathons.

However most of the people Dipper doubted that they even knew that Dipper existed. He was no threat to their fame, since they were experts on different fields of expertise.

In the end Dipper had narrowed it down to a handful of people.

The last name Dipper checked was “Gideon Gleeful”. The sheer amount of entries was quite intimidating at first.

It seemed that Gideon was a wonder child, that had enrolled in university despite his young age. However he didn’t seem to have scored first, like Dipper did, otherwise Dipper would have met him already at the entrance ceremony.

Dipper was sure he had never seen Gideon before or he would have remembered this face. He was a small, chubby boy, with freckles, blond hair and an old-school hairstyle that reminded Dipper of the movie Grease.

Gideon was everywhere on the web, promoting his books on coding or his way to lead a successful life. In addition his father was the CEO of a company that developed security software.

Chewing his inner cheek Dipper read through one article after another and in the end he was convinced that he had found his nemesis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick outlook on what to expect. Right now I'm writing chapter 17 and I think this might become around 20 chapter +/- one or two. Also I already know how this is goint to end, which is helpful, because I only need to write things down ^^°...hahah only...  
> Well, thanks for any kudos/comments!!


	5. Chapter 5

The following days Dipper tried as best as he could to balance his job at the Shack, his university projects and the task to solve the password of the USB-Stick before his meeting with Bill on Sunday. However he failed very badly at it and most of the times he fell asleep over his laptop and only awoke when Stan knocked on the door like a lunatic, barking curses at him.

It was already Friday night, when Dipper was suddenly hit by an idea. He changed some parts of his own password hacking tool and then he adapted it to the files on the stick.

Holding his breath Dipper stared at his screen unblinking.

First noting happened and then as if a ghost had taken over control over his keyboard a password was entered magically.

**[PASSWORD:***********]**

**[ENTER]**

The screen turned green and Dipper’s heart skipped a beat. The next second words started flashing in red.

**[TRUST NO ONE! TRUST NO ONE! TRUST NO ONE!]**

Dipper wasn’t sure if this was maybe part of some kind of self destruction again or if this was the actual message hidden on the file, but before he could do anything there appeared a cryptic text and at the bottom there was another field asking for a password.

“FUCK!” Dipper cursed. This had only been the first stage and the next password seemed to be even more complicated to solve.

“Uhgh...damn you Stanford! What the hell are you hiding here?” Dipper fell back on is bed and closed his eyes. He could feel that his body was yearning for some sleep, but at the same time his mind was too busy to even consider going to bed now.

He spent the rest of the night looking at the text and trying to find some references online for the symbols. These signs were no Japanese kanji, nor any Nordic runes or something from Egypt. There was nothing to be found online. In the end Dipper was sure that it was a language that Stanford must have invented and that only he or someone who knew him well would be able to decipher it.

Which brought his mind back to Bill. He would certainly be of great help in order to solve this riddle.

Dipper had googled Bill’s address a few times and his conclusion was that he was living in a very noble area. Probably Bill was even rich. Why such a man would rather seek out help from an unknown student instead of paying some professionals to do his work, was beyond Dipper. Maybe Bill did feel guilty for the family tragedy that had occurred some years ago and since Stanley wouldn’t speak to him, Dipper might be his only connection.

On Sunday Dipper packed his laptop and the USB-Stick into his backpack and he told Stan that he would go to the library, since he needed to look something up that wasn’t available online.

Stan didn’t pay much attention to him and only waved him goodbye.

When Dipper was parking the car near Bill’s house, he realized that his heart was racing. The last time he had visited someone at home had been in his childhood. He had no idea how he should behave, especially since he didn’t know anything about Bill.

He tried to tell himself that this was mostly a business meeting and nothing personal. When he left the car he had put on his business face and took a few deep breathes.

The place Bill was living in was in a row of old English town-houses. The moment Dipper walked up the stairs to the door, he felt immediately intimidated. Still he managed to ring the doorbell and a small part of him hoped that no one would actually answer.

His hope was crushed, when Bill appeared in the door and swung it open with a smile.

“Pine Tree! Nice to see you!”

Bill’s outfit was a little more casual than Dipper had seen him dressed in before. He was still wearing dress pants, but otherwise he was only wearing a bottom down white shirt without a tie or his vest.

Dipper had settled for his usual attire: jeans, chucks and hoodie. There was nothing gained by pretending to be someone else.

“Hey Bill, thanks for inviting me.”

Hesitantly Dipper stepped into the house and removed his shoes, before he left the entrance hall. Everything inside Bill’s house looked expensive. His furnitures had a modern twist and stood in contrast towards the classic exterior.

The living room was large and on the far end of it was an open kitchen. To Dipper’s right side was a sofa corner and a huge TV screen. On the left was a dining table and even a fireplace, however it wasn’t in use right now.

Dipper stood in the middle of the room, unsure where he was allowed to go, when Bill turned around.

“Do you want something to drink? Coffee?”

“Eh, tea please,” Dipper replied, but back-pedalled immediately, “I mean, only if you have tea and if it’s not too much.”

Bill laughed and winked at him.

“This is no problem at all. What kind of tea do you want?” Bill walked behind the bar table that was dividing the kitchen from the rest of the room. He opened a cupboard and peered inside.

“Green tea, black tea?”

“Do you have Earl Grey?” Dipper asked and took a seat on one of the barstools.

“Sure, kid. Milk and sugar, too?”

“Yes, please,” Dipper nodded and he watched Bill prepare the tea for him. Also Bill filled a pot with black coffee for himself. He handed the tea to Dipper and took a large gulp from his own mug.

“So, any success on the files?”

Dipper hid behind his mug, when he sipped the still hot tea.

“Actually yes,” he began and Bill’s mismatched eyes started to sparkle.

“Wow and?”

Dipper’s shoulders slumped a little.

“I solved the first password, but then a screen appeared asking for a second one.”

“Oh, why does this not surprise me?” Bill leaned down on the table between him and Dipper and he swirled the rest of his coffee in his mug.

“I...I brought my laptop and the stick, if you want to have a look,” Dipper nervously looked up at Bill.

“Great! Then let’s go!”

Bill set his empty mug aside and walked to his dinner table, where he patted one place, inviting Dipper to join him.

The brunet nodded and came over. He placed his backpack on one chair and removed his laptop.

When he was about to enter his own password, he gave a side glance towards Bill, who turned around to give Dipper some privacy.

Afterwards Dipper tapped on the folder on the stick and the screen appeared that showed a conglomeration of cryptic signs.

In order to give Bill a better look, Dipper turned the laptop screen towards him.

Bill leaned forward and scanned the content. After a moment he leaned back and started to laugh.

“Well, now I am sure that this is Ford’s work!”

“Yeah?” Dipper piped up, sounding a little overenthusiastic.

“Ford had a lot of secret language codes that he had invented. We mostly only communicated in this way. And I think I know this one, too.”

Bill stood up and fetched an I-pad from the coffee table in front of the sofa. He opened his gallery and scrolled through the pictures.

“Ah! Here we go!”

He zoomed into the picture and gave the tablet to Dipper.

“There! I took a picture of all the substitution cipher he invented. It turns every letter into a symbol. I think this must be the one that should be able to decode it. You see, this for example stands for the letter ‘E’.”

Dipper was quite impressed and after having a look at the picture in front of him, he indeed started to see a pattern. He thought that this kind of code was something for kids, but now he must admit that it was rather handy.

Both men started to try and read the text in front of them. Bill had brought some pencils and notebooks and had made additional tea and coffee.

They soon realized that it was not one substitution code alone but a clash of all the codes. Therefore sometimes they were stuck with some missing letters. However after around four hours of work they finally had the complete text in front of them.

_[_ _I apologized profusely to F for another traumatic experience. I told him that once we complete ‘_ _T_ _he_ _P_ _ortal’ all of this will have been worth it. We are almost there!_

_Curse the world, curse the town, curse the fate that brought me here!_

_My muse was a monster. I was a puppet! F was right_ _]_ _*_

Dipper stared at the notes in his hand and wondered if this was right. It sounded like Ford had been in real trouble. What portal was he talking about and who was “F”? Dipper handed the notes to Bill.

“I don’t understand any of this.”

Bill took the notes with a serious expression.

“Hm, actually I also don’t really get it. He must have been desperate when he wrote this.”

“Ok, but how does it help us regarding the password?” Dipper looked back at the screen where the cursor was constantly blinking.

“May I?” Bill inquired and Dipper slid the laptop over. Actually he feared that the files would again threaten to destroy themselves if Bill would enter a wrong password, but in this moment he needed to trust the other man.

Bill’s fingers flew over the keyboard and Dipper had missed to take a close look on the keys that Bill had pressed.

The screen immediately started to blink green and files over files started to load.

“You did it!” Dipper burst out.

Bill leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving the screen in front of him.

“What password did you use?” Dipper inquired.

“Nothing special really, only the name of Stanford’s brother,” Bill told him.

“Really? So easy?” Dipper could hardly believe it. Why would Stanford go to such a length to hide the files, when in the end someone who knew him could easily solve the riddle. Or maybe he wanted that only someone who knew the truth would be able to decode it.

“Whoa, these are a lot of files,” Dipper scrolled through the folders and opened one file at random.

“These are codes! He was writing some kind of program,” Dipper concluded and opened another file.

“Yes,” Bill confirmed, “I think this might be part of our work. I think he didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.”

Dipper nodded absent-mindedly. He was trying to understand what the code was meant to do, but it would take him some time to read through all of it in order to be able to understand it in full.

“Pine Tree, I think you should keep it and take a look at it. If you find something interesting, please tell me, will you?”

Reluctantly Dipper tore his eyes from the screen and looked at Bill.

“Yeah sure I will,” he promised.

“Now,” Bill stretched his arms above his head, “I think that was enough work for today. How about we order some food. Do you like pizza?”

Up until now Dipper had felt quite comfortable around Bill, but only because it had been like a business meeting. However eating pizza together was a complete different thing and Dipper couldn’t help but look a little dumbstruck.

“Or sushi? Whatever you like best,” Bill raised an eyebrow and gave Dipper a taxing glance.

“Pizza is fine!” Dipper managed to mumble. Hurriedly he packed his laptop back into his bag in order to hide his emotions.

“Nice, what kind of pizza should I order for you? I will have something spicy,” Bill’s grin had something wicked to it and a shiver ran down Dipper’s spine.

“Pizza Hawaii is fine.”

“Ok, I got you!” Bill stood up and fetch the phone from his pocket. He walked over to the kitchen and made an order.

Dipper remained seated at the dinner table. He had no idea how he should survive the rest of the evening. He had no idea what topics he could talk about. He had a lot of questions regarding Ford and Bill’s time with him, but he didn’t want to be impolite.

When Bill returned he went to the sofa corner and waved Dipper nearer.

“I don’t bite. Come over here kid.”

“Ok.”

Dipper walked over a little awkwardly and took a seat farthest away from Bill, who was eyeing him with some unconcealed interest.

“How do you like Gravity Falls?” Bill asked.

“It’s ok, I guess. Not much different from any other place.”

“You think so?” Bill leaned back on the sofa, putting one leg over the other.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 22,” Dipper replied, his brain on auto-pilot.

“You do look a bit younger. I’m sorry, you probably hear that all the time.”

Dipper laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. He had problems to breathe, the way Bill was looking at him made him feel rather uncomfortable. Shifting on his seat, Dipper wished that Bill’s mismatched eyes would look at something else.

“You remind me a little of myself,” Bill started and this made Dipper look up again, “I studied computer science in Gravity Falls, too. A lot of people praised me as a genius, but I never felt like one. Actually I felt like a burden to the world.”

Bill’s gaze became distant and without realizing it, Dipper had leaned closer towards the other.

“And then I met Ford. He made me see the best of me. He encouraged me and we both became best friends.”

Bill raked a hand through his hair and a few strands fell into his eyes, which somehow made him even more attractive.

“Of course this is all long forgotten. I hope one day I can tell him myself, that he probably saved me.”

Dipper gave Bill an encouraging smile and his hand reached out to Bill and he patted one of his shoulders.

“We will find him. Don’t worry, I will help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The text is a copy from "Gravity Falls Journal 3" by Alex Hirsch + Disney
> 
> I think Dipper will always drink "Earl Grey" in all my stories , bc I just think it fits his character very much :D. Also while Bill's character changes from story to story Dipper will mostly be much the same. 
> 
> I didn't write a lot last week, mostly because I'm not sure if my ideas are good or not. I guess some will go to the trash ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	6. Chapter 6

When Dipper returned back to the Mystery Shack after his meeting with Bill he had a fuzzy feeling inside his chest. After Bill had opened up a little, Dipper had found it much easier to talk to him. Actually he felt like there was a real connection between Bill and him, because for the first time in Dipper’s life he felt like Bill had made the same experiences as he had made. Also Bill was indeed a genius and Dipper could talk about his university projects without the hassle to explain everything in detail before the other would understand what he was actually talking about.

If only Stan would see what a good person Bill was! It was a shame that Dipper would have to hide his relationship towards his Grunkle. Maybe this would change as soon as Dipper found the whereabouts of Stan’s twin bother. After he had solved the passwords together with Bill he had now free access on the files. He felt excited and giddy to be able to read them as soon as he would return to his room.

Upon his return Dipper made a detour to the kitchen a greeted his Grunkle with a happy smile.

“Did you find everything you wanted?” Stan inquired and Dipper looked at him in confusion for a second.

“Ah, yes, the library is very good. Also there is a very good cafe next to it. I was working there for hours and didn’t realize that it had been this late already.”

“Don’t worry. It’s good if you leave the house every now and then. Maybe you can make some friends.”

Dipper had to hold back the smile that started to creep on his face.

“Yeah, maybe. I will be upstairs. Good night!”

“Night!”

Quickly Dipper jumped up the stairs. He got ready for the night, dressed himself in pyjamas and was comfortably seated on his bed, when he pulled the laptop near again.

He was just about to open the files he so craved to read, when an incoming E-Mail gained his full attention.

The message was from Gideon Gleeful! Furrowing his brows Dipper read through it.

From: GideonGleeful@tentoftelepathy.com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Dear Mister Pines,_

_may I introduce myself? My name is Gideon Gleeful and I am a student at Gravity Falls University, too. I am proud to be able to study next to the well-known Mister Pines, who had some great achievements towards revolutionising security systems on the world wide web._

_My father is CEO at “Tent of Telepathy” and we would like to invite you for a tour through his company. A cooperation with a first grade student would be very welcome._

_We would love to meet you next Friday at 3 pm._

_Best Regards,_

_Gideon Gleeful_ ]

How come that Dipper was suddenly in such a demand? He closed the message again and stared into space for a long while. He already knew that Gideon was not to be trusted, however he really wanted to meet this kid in person and find out more about his motifs. Also Dipper reckoned that meeting at his father’s company wouldn’t harm him. He could even benefit from it. Still Dipper did not reply yet. He turned of his wireless connection in order to not be distracted by any other incoming messages and he started to focus solely on the files on the USB-Stick.

The next day during breakfast, Dipper asked his Grunkle about Gideon.

“Lil’Gideon? Everyone’s darling? Of course I know him and I hate him!”

Somehow Dipper wasn’t surprised, Stan seemed to hate a lot of people.

“He asked me to come over to visit his fathers company.”

“He did? That little toad! Ha! Yeah, you go there and see for yourself. He’s not genius at all, just very good at blackmailing people!”

“You allow me to go there?” Dipper felt a little confused. He wasn’t allowed to meet Bill, but Gideon who obviously wasn’t any better, was ok.

“Sure, show him what a Pines is made of! No way that he can fool you with his sugary words!”

Dipper nearly choked over his food.

“Ok then. I will take care. He wants to meet me on Friday. So maybe if I haven’t returned until Saturday best you call the police.”

Stan started laughing and bits of toast flew across the table.

“Right you are! I will come over myself and beat the smile from his chubby little face!”

After talking with Stan, Dipper felt less anxious towards a meeting with Gideon. He seemed to have a lot of influence, but two could play this game.

Dipper wrote a short reply and confirmed the date and time. Afterwards he focused on one of his university tasks, so that he wouldn’t receive another call from his professor any time soon.

All the following evenings Dipper worked through the files on the USB-Stick. Between bits of code there were a lot of messages hidden inside.
    
    
    voidreverseSentence(); intmain() { printf("Trust no one"); reverseSentence(); return0; } voidreverseSentence()  
    
    { char c; scanf("%c", &c); if (c != '\n') { reverseSentence(); printf("%c", c); } }

Most of them were [ _Trus_ _t_ _no one!_ ] or [ _He deceived me_ ].

As unnerving as these messages were, there was something else off about the files and at Thursday night Dipper finally realized what was missing.

“There are parts of the code missing! This can’t be all!”

He scrolled through some files to confirm his fear and in the end he was 100% sure, that there must be more somewhere. Dipper’s best guess was, that there mus be at least two more USB-Sticks somewhere.

Since he felt that this was something quite important he opened a mail for Bill. After their meeting he hadn’t heard anything from Bill and Dipper felt sad about it. He had expected a bit more, but he also didn’t want to write Bill before he had read through all the files.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

_[Hey Bill,_

_I think I found something. The code is not complete and like this it’s hard to tell what it was about. I think there must be at least two more sticks with additional information. Do you have any idea where these could be hidden? Should I search in the woods again where I found the first one?_

_BR,_

_Dipper_ _]_

After Dipper had sent the mail, he felt the usual excitement bubbling up in his stomach. He hoped that Bill would reply to him as fast as he usually did, but he also feared that maybe Bill had lost his interest in him.

However no reply came, not during the night, nor in the morning. Dipper was tempted to send another message and to ask if the first message got lost. He managed to stop himself from doing so. He was sure that there was a good reason for Bill to not reply. He might be busy himself. Actually Dipper had no idea what Bill’s occupation was. He had once worked together with Ford. But he never mentioned what he was doing now. Dipper made a mental note that if he ever got the chance, he would make sure to ask about it.

Whatever Bill did, it must be highly lucrative, considering the area he lived in.

Still Dipper’s mood was dampened, when on Friday he got into the car and drove towards the meeting with Gideon.

The company “Tent of Telepathy” was located in the heart of the city inside a huge modern skyscraper, that was completely made of glass.

What had once been a tiny start-up, had now become a world leading company in fighting cyber crimes and protecting their customer’s data.

Actually Dipper had once imagined himself to work for them after his graduation. There was little known about the staff members, since the company always acted a little secretive. They claimed it was to protect their customers, but Dipper always suspected that they were also sometimes hiring people from the ‘Darknet’, who were braking the laws in more than one way.

When Dipper entered the building there was a vast entrance hall, that was big enough to even have a fountain in the centre and some trees growing around it. Dipper went to the guest reception, his eyes still taking in the area.

“Hello sir, how can I help you?” The women behind the counter gave him a polite smile.

“Hello my name is Dipper Pines, I have an appointment with Gideon Gleeful.”

“Let me check this for you,” she typed something into her computer and looked at the screen.

“Dipper Pines? I only have a Mason Pines in here.”

Dipper cursed under his breath.

“Ah, yeah sorry, that’s me. However I prefer the name Dipper.”

The women raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Can I see your ID please, sir.”

Grudgingly Dipper removed the ID from his wallet and held it out.

The women checked the data and nodded.

“Thank you very much Mister Pines. Would you please be so kind and wear this guest tag everywhere you go. Please return it back to me, when you leave again.”

Dipper took the tag and hung it around his neck.

“Good, the entrance is that way. After the security check, please take the elevator to your right and hold out the tag to the panel. It will then automatically bring you to the correct destination. Have a nice stay.”

The women gave him another smile before she returned her attention back to her monitor.

Dipper did as he was told and went over to the security. He had to remove all electronic devices and pass through a body scanner. Afterwards he was clear to finally enter the elevator.

Although Dipper knew that these were normal procedures today, these kind of things stressed him out and his social energy was already drained before he had even met Gideon in person.

After some time and Dipper guessed it was around the 10th floor, the elevator door finally opened again and Dipper cautiously stepped out.

The corridor in front of him only led towards one single door, therefore Dipper walked over and hesitated a moment. Before long he knocked two times.

“Come in!” The voice of a young man answered.

When he opened the door Dipper saw a luxurious office. Gideon’s desk was standing at the far end with the Gravity Falls skyline behind him. There were several monitors attached to the wall, blinking with all kind of information and to the left was a leather sofa and a coffee machine.

Gideon himself was dressed in a baby blue suit and since he wasn’t very tall, he looked a little lost the way he sat behind his huge desk. There was also a chair positioned in front of the desk and Dipper supposed that this was meant for him.

“Hello Mister Gleeful,” Dipper started, but the younger man cut him off.

“Oh please, call me Gideon! Everyone calls me Gideon.”

“Ehm, ok,” Dipper nodded and sat down.

Gideon folded his hands on the desk and his eyes were shining brightly.

“I’m so happy that we are able to finally meet in person! I somehow missed the chance to say hello during our entrance ceremony,” he made a pause and sighed heavily, “but now you are here!”

Dipper had nothing to say to this, he waited for the boy to continue.

“Well, as you might already know and I’m pretty sure you did a thorough background check on me, I’m Gideon Gleeful the son of Bud Gleeful who is the CEO of this company.”

He started to giggle and waved a hand.

“But you are not here to hear me boast, are you?”

Dipper meant to reply something, but Gideon interrupted him immediately.

“On the entrance exam you scored first place! That was really impressive. I think you are really talented and my father thinks so, too. We were wondering if you might be interested in a job here?”

Dipper wasn’t sure how to react. He had somehow already suspected this.

“What kind of job do you mean?” Dipper inquired calmly.

“Of course I can’t give you any details yet. Not before you signed the non-disclosure-agreement.”

“So I need to sign a contract first, before you tell me what I’m supposed to do?” Dipper raised an eyebrow.

“Mister Pines! We are no criminals here! We won’t offer you anything illegal, just a normal contract with a monthly income, insurance, everything!”

“Ok, then I’m sorry, but I have to decline,” Dipper replied and was about to get up again. If Gideon really thought he could buy him this easily, he was very much mistaken.

“Of course, this is your choice alone,” Gideon leaned back in his chair, “but I really thought you would care more about the future of the Mystery Shack.”

Dipper turned around.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh nothing at all. I’m sure Stan is keeping you up to date regarding his debts, doesn’t he? Do you really think he earns enough money to pay his bills by solely being Mister Mystery?”

It wasn’t easy for Dipper to maintain a blank expression. Why was it that everyone in Gravity Fall knew more than he did.

“Of course he keeps me up to date. We are family,” Dipper replied and opened the door. He didn’t like Gideon and he wouldn’t listen to his poisonous talking. Gideon framed him once, he would likely do it again.

“Your choice!” Gideon called after him, before the door closed again.

When Dipper left the elevator he wasn’t sure how he should feel about the whole situation. Gideon was an influential person. Having him as an enemy was probably not the best choice and Dipper had just made it clear that he would not let himself fobbed off with empty promises.

Still when Dipper returned the guest tag back to the women at the front desk, she handed him over a heavy sealed envelope.

Dipper had a mind to refrain from taking it, but he eventually ended up bringing it with him.

Back in the safety of his car Dipper opened the envelope to make sure that there was nothing dangerous inside.

It was a full contract issued on his name and when Dipper scanned the first few pages he couldn’t help but start coughing when he reached the point regarding his salary.

“500.000 USD per month!!!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesterday was the birthday of Gravity Falls!!! Eight long years and I only joined the fandom a few years ago.   
> Gosh!!! All the time before wasted ;__;!!!   
> Please if there is ever another series like this, tell me IMMEDIATELY!! Don't want to miss out on all the fun again.  
> (And yes, SVTFOE is also pretty good and again I only started watching it a few weeks ago. I'm hopeless.)
> 
> Anyways, hope you liked the chapter. Thanks for any comment or kudo!


	7. Chapter 7

Dipper hadn’t been able to talk with his Grunkle about the meeting with Gideon when he had returned to the Shack. Stan was busy giving a last Mystery tour for the day and Dipper used the time to get over his initial shock.

Sitting at the kitchen table in front of a steaming hot tea, Dipper stared at the contract in front of him. Suddenly Dipper remembered that he hadn’t checked his mails for a very long time and he hoped that Bill had finally replied to him. It would have been a welcome distraction. However the only mail he had received was from his sister Mabel, forwarding some fishy chain letter. Dipper didn’t waste his time reading it and deleted it within seconds.

He felt even more down now and took a sip of his tea. Somehow his life in Gravity Falls didn’t go as intended. His life back in Piedmont had never been this eventful.

When the kitchen door swung open and his Grunkle entered, Dipper nearly jumped from the chair.

“And how was your meeting with Gideon?”

Dipper ruffled his hair. He needed a haircut, but he was too busy to care.

“It was...wild.”

He pushed the contract over to Stan who was just about to take a gulp from his freshly opened beer. Yet the liquid never got far, because Stan spit out the whole content like a fountain.

“Half a million a month?!?!”

The nearly empty can was smashed on the table and Stan had to sit down, before he would faint. He grabbed all the papers and read through them. All the colour started to drain from his face and he raked a hand through his thin hair.

“Boy oh boy, this is big. I wonder what you have done to the kid that he already brings out the biggest guns.”

Dipper hesitated a moment, then he decided to bring up another point.

“Gideon said that you have trouble to pay your bills. Is this true?”

Stan’s face went hard.

“No Dipper, that’s bullshit! Don’t let the words of this pig get to you!”

Without further hesitation Stan tore the contract in two.

“Don’t make any deals with Gideon. Whatever he tells you, it’s a lie.”

Dipper looked from the torn paper on the ground up to his Grunkle again, his mouth wide open.

“He seems to be quite powerful. Won’t it be a problem to have him as an enemy?” Dipper inquired cautiously.

“We are enemies as long as I can think!” Stan laughed and he stood up and fetched another beer from the fridge. When he sat down again, he continued.

“Gideon wants the Mystery Shack for himself. He is after it for since he was born! He will use whatever method in order to be successful.”

“He does, but why?”

Stan shrugged and took a long sip from his beer, focusing Dipper over the rim of the can.

“Actually I never found out. But you will see for yourself soon. He is rather obsessed.”

Dipper felt very much confused when he returned back to his room. With a groan he fell headfirst on his bed. He remained immobile for some minutes, before he turned around and checked his mails on his phone again.

When he saw a message from Gideon appear, he felt a headache building up behind his eyes. Still he opened the message.

From: GideonGleeful@tentoftelepathy.com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _I won’t repeat my offer. Don’t be a fool! You don’t want me as your enemy!_ ]

Dipper wondered if Gideon would turn purple if he knew that Stan had just killed the employment agreement. Dipper felt a little relived that Stan had made the choice for him. For a moment he really had felt tempted to take it. Money was one part, but more importantly he didn’t want to get into any fight. He didn't feel like he had the mental energy to fight of Gideon throughout his whole time at university.

After some time Dipper let his hand that was holding the phone fall back onto the mattress and he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he had dozed off and if so for how long, when suddenly the phone in his hand started vibrating. It took Dipper a moment, before he realized what was happening. Quickly he opened his eyes and checked his phone’s display. There was an incoming call and it was from Bill.

“Hello?” Dipper nearly screamed into the phone a little out of breath.

“Hey kid, are you awake?”

Dipper checked the time on his phone. It was already one o’clock in the middle of the night. While Dipper wondered how Bill came by his phone number, he was interrupted in his thoughts, when Bill continued to speak.

“If you are awake, then meet me outside in the parking lot.”

Within a heartbeat Dipper had scrambled to his feet and he was out of the door. He tiptoed down the stairs and checked the living-room for his Grunkle. It seemed that the old man had already gone to bed, since all the rooms were dark and empty.

Trying his best to open and close the front-door as silently as possible, he sneaked outside and ran towards the nearly empty parking lot next to the Shack.

He saw Bill leaning against his car from afar. From what Dipper could see in the darkness, the car looked expensive. However since the colour seemed to be black, he could not make out any more details. Bill stood out only because his blonde hair shimmered a little in the faint moonlight.

Panting Dipper was about to say hello, when Bill turned around and opened his door.

“Get inside,” he told Dipper and vanished into his car. For a brief second Dipper hesitated, but part of him was just so glad about seeing Bill, that he threw caution to the wind.

“Hey Bill, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Dipper asked while getting into the seat.

“I missed you,” Bill leaned over and winked at Dipper. When the brunet’s eyes became large, the older man began to laugh.

“I really did, but your E-mail got me thinking. I want to show you something.”

Bill started the engine and drove off into the night. Dipper felt too flustered to start talking therefore for the first minutes he kept himself busy looking out of the window into the darkness of the forest.

“What do you want to show me?” he finally inquired.

“Let’s not spoil the fun!”

They drove for around half an hour until Bill finally parked the car on the roadside, still in the middle of the woods.

Panic started to bubble up inside Dipper for a second. This was a perfect spot for a murder, he thought and when Bill got out of the car, Dipper only followed him reluctantly.

“Here,” Bill pressed a big flashlight into Dipper’s hands, “you will need this.”

Dipper pushed the button and a bright ray of light illuminated the area. Bill lead the way and they marched together along an overgrown path until they reached a clearing. Right in the centre of it was the ruin of a building that seemed to have burned down a long time ago.

“Where are we?” Dipper gasped and he let the light explore everything that had remained of the building in front of him. It looked like it had once been a warehouse, however the sign above the entrance had fallen to the ground and it was hardly possible to make out a name, since most of the parts had become black from the fire.

“This was Stanford’s Company. He called it ‘The Journal’.”

“Oh,” Dipper made a few steps closer towards it, “why is it burned down?”

“That was his brother Stanley.”

“What?” Dipper whipped around to Bill.

“Why would he do that?”

“Why indeed? Since his brother had been involved in some illegal activities and after he had vanished without a trace, he wanted to destroy all the evidence. Also, he staged his own death.”

Dipper nearly tripped over his own feet.

“What?”

“Yes, if you research it, you will find several articles that state that Stanley Pines had died in an accident at his brother’s company. That way he was able to take his twin-brother’s identity, while searching for him.”

“What?” Dipper didn’t know what he should say anymore. He was shocked to the core.

Bill tossed a stone on the ground angrily.

“You know, I don’t think that he simply destroyed everything. I think he took all the equipment to somewhere safe. He didn’t want someone else getting involved, especially not me.”

Bill frowned and Dipper turned towards him. He felt the urge to touch Bill again, but he stopped himself from doing so.

“So, you mean, it’s likely that Stan has one of the USB-Sticks, too?”

With a grim expression Bill nodded.

“I’m pretty sure.”

Both men fell silent for a while.

“Do you want me to search for it?” Dipper asked finally.

“I can not ask you to do this. He is your family.”

“No it’s ok. He wants to find Ford and if I might be able to help him this way, I don’t think he would be angry with me in the end.”

“Pine Tree, you are a real friend,” Bill smiled genuinely at Dipper and the brunet felt his heart melt inside his chest.

Then Dipper suddenly remembered that there was something he meant to ask Bill for quite some time now.

“Bill, you told me that you had lost everything back then when Ford left,” Dipper paused, feeling a little awkward to ask a personal question, “I was wondering, what are you actually working right now?”

The blond man crossed his arms in front of him, the flashlight pointing to the ground, so that it would not blind Dipper.

“I had to start from scratch again, but I managed. Right now I’m working for the ‘Tent of Telepathy’.”

This time Dipper swayed and Bill caught his arm, before it was too late. However this made Dipper crash right into the others chest.

Like a cat thrown into the water Dipper sprung backwards a few feet.

“You work for Gideon?!”

Bill tilted his head a little.

“Yes, and you know why?”

“He pays well?” Dipper sounded a little offended, but Bill only laughed.

“Yes, that’s a fair point. But more importantly,” Bill walked over to Dipper until he stood right in front of the young man.

“He has one USB-Stick, too.”

“He does?!”

“I don’t know where he found it, but this is the reason for his father’s company success. He used the data as a basis for his own security program. While this is actually the work of Stanford and myself, he sold it to the world as his own brilliant idea. Gideon is no real genius, not like you.”

Bill had breathed the last sentence and he put one hand on Dipper’s cheek, who started to have problems breathing.

After some time, that felt like an eternity for Dipper, Bill removed his hand again and made a step back. Dipper was relieved that the darkness was effectively hiding the blush on his cheeks.

“I got into the company to get hold of the stick. Sadly it’s really well protected. Meanwhile I make a lot of money, that also conveniently helps me in my search for Ford.”

“I understand,” Dipper held one finger up to his lips, tapping it nervously.

“Gideon offered me a job too.”

“Oh he did? How interesting. Did you accept?”

“No.”

This time Bill nearly toppled over with laughter.

“Pine Tree you really are hilarious. But watch out, that kid is dangerous after all. If you get in trouble, give me a call.”

Dipper had no idea what kind of trouble Bill was talking about, but he nodded nevertheless.

“So should I take you back to the Shack now?”

Bill hinted with his head into the direction of his car and Dipper followed him back through the woods in silence.

He could still feel the warmth of Bill’s fingers on his cheek and his mind was oddly clouded.

Back at the Shack before Dipper got out of the car, he had one final question for Bill.

“Where did you get my phone number? I never told you about it.”

“I have my ways of getting information, just like you. Good night.”

“Night,” Dipper mumbled and then he watched Bill drive back into the woods. Dipper stood there for a long time and looked into the night. It was nearly dawn and Dipper would probably feel like shit during work. He really should fix his sleeping habits. He turned around and walked back to the house, while his mind was racing with questions and emotions. Dipper didn’t felt prepared to tackle them just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter!!  
> I'm writing the last chapter right now and I'm struggling big time, because I need to make a few decisions. Well, lets see where this is going. 
> 
> Thx again for any comment/ kudo!


	8. Chapter 8

One week had passed since Dipper had last seen Bill. Although he wanted to see him again or maybe only speak or chat with him a little, he didn’t dare to write him. On the other hand, there already was one person, who did write Dipper every day and not once, but around a thousand times.

Gideon was flooding his mails with spam and Dipper had already wrote a zillion filters, but the guy was persistent as hell.

After Dipper had replied to Gideon and politely declined his offer again, it had only become worse. Still this spam-mails were nothing Dipper was afraid of. He felt sure that this was only the beginning.

During Dipper’s shift on Saturday the enemy then finally showed up. When Gideon stepped inside the shop, Dipper felt a little nervous, because Stan wasn’t around.

“Pines! How are you?”

“Gideon…, what are you doing here?”

“Oh me?” he giggled innocently like a little child, “I’m only here browsing for merchandise.”

He walked over to an assortment of snow globes and he pushed them all down the shelves. With a loud clang they fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

“Upsy!” Gideon held one hand up to his mouth, not quite hiding the evil grin that started to spread from ear to ear.

“If you think you can blackmail me…,” Dipper started, but Gideon interrupted him.

“Blackmail? No, no, no. Dipper, I still want your signature on my contract! Why should I blackmail my future co-worker?”

“I don’t know? Maybe that’s your idea of a successful business model,” Dipper countered.

“Maybe,” Gideon hissed and walked over to Dipper, while making sure to step on all the globes that had survived their free fall.

“You better not anger me! The Mystery Shack will soon be mine and when you are starving and homeless, you will come crawling back to me!”

“I doubt that,” Dipper snorted, feeling a boldness he never had felt before.

“Play the brave hero, but you will lose everything.”

Gideon turned around on his heels and marched out again. He then jumped into his shiny new Porsche and sped out into the woods.

With a sigh Dipper started to clean up the mess that Gideon had left behind. He had never felt hatred towards anyone, but Gideon certainly was a good candidate for this.

He wondered how Bill managed to put up with him. He often found himself wondering about Bill and this made Dipper feel even more depressed.

When Dipper closed the shop in the evening Stan had still not returned from whatever he was doing. Somewhere around noon, Stan had announced that he needed to go somewhere and Dipper hadn’t even bothered to ask any details. He just went with it.

But then suddenly Dipper had an idea. Since Stan wasn’t around and the shop was closed for the day, it was the perfect chance to search for the USB-stick.

Dipper had meant to search for it before, but Stan was always around. Adrenaline started to pulse through Dipper’s body and he felt even a little giddy when he started to look into rooms he had never before taken a closer look at.

Most parts of the house were actually a mess. There were several rooms that no one used anymore, however they were still well furnished but everything was layered with dust and spiderwebs. If anyone had touched anything in here within the last weeks, Dipper could have easily spotted it. Yet everything appeared perfectly dusty and old.

To make sure, Dipper opened a few drawers, but there was really nothing noteworthy inside, most of them were empty.

After some time Dipper finally stood in front of the door to Stan’s bedroom. Before he entered it, he leaned outside the window in the corridor again and checked if he could spot Stan’s car. Since there was none, Dipper took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

Much to Dipper’s surprise the door wasn’t locked. Dipper always locked his door, regardless of if he was inside or not. He liked his privacy.

The room was a mess! Of course Dipper had already been inside this room, but only when Stan was with him, too. The bedsheets were upside down, there were socks and underwear littered on the floor and Dipper really did not want to know what was inside the drawer next to the bed.

Haphazardly he looked here and there, until his eyes fell on an ugly painting that hung a little slanted.

After removing the painting from the wall, Dipper found a hidden part inside wall. There was a tin-box inside it and Dipper pulled the whole box out and rummaged through the contents. There were several fake IDs with different names. There were also some old newspaper articles about Stanford’s company and how his brother Stanley had had a tragic accident and died within the flames.

Some part of Dipper had hoped that he would find something to vindicate his Grunkle, but it seemed that everything that Bill had told him was actually true. Therefore it was more than likely that Stanley must also have one of the USB-Sticks. Much to Dipper’s disappointment there was no stick inside the box and there was nothing more in it except for one single piece of paper with a strange kind of code written on it. Dipper took a picture of it with his phone for good measure. Afterwards he placed the painting back on the wall, the same way he had found it before.

With a sigh he gave up on further investigation and when he returned back to his own room, he could already hear Stan’s car parking in front of the Shack.

Dipper grabbed his laptop and flopped himself on his bed, making it look like he had been sitting here the whole night.

It was only a few moments later, when Dipper heard the front door closing and somehow Dipper couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. In order to distract himself he checked his mails and much to his surprise there was a new mail from Bill.

From: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Hey kid,_

_how are you doing? Is Gideon getting on your nerves? He’s keeping everyone pretty busy, harassing you._

_Can I kidnap you once more tonight? There is a_ _S_ _ock_ _O_ _pera in town…._ ]

Dipper’s hands started to become sweaty and his pulse was reaching an unhealthy level. He had no idea what a ‘Sock Opera’ was and somehow he didn’t even care. Everything inside him was screaming to reply as soon as possible and he had already opened the reply-window, when there was suddenly a knock on the door.

With a start Dipper slapped the laptop close and stared back and forth from the door and back to his hands. Too confused to reply, there was a second knock.

“Dipper? Are you awake? I’m back and I brought some Chinese food, so if you are up for it, meet me in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, ok,” Dipper replied an auto-pilot. Cursing under his breath, he opened the laptop again. While he had no idea how he could leave the house without his Grunkle noticing, he still wrote the only reply Dipper was able to give.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

[ _ok_ ]

Before Dipper went downstairs he grabbed his phone and changed it from silent mode to vibration in order to not miss any further messages from Bill.

In the kitchen there was a strong scent of garlic in the air and Stan was sitting at the table stuffing some noodles in his mouth with chopsticks.

“Hey Stan! How was your day?”

Dipper asked and also sat down and removed his own chopsticks and noodles from the paper bag.

“Thanks for the food.”

“Yeah, yeah,” his Grunkle mumbled, spitting some noodles on the table.

They ate together in silence for a while. Dipper pondered if he should tell his Grunkle about Gideon’s visit today, but before he could say anything, his phone started vibrating inside his pocket. Quickly he pulled it out and saw that Bill was actually calling him. Awkwardly he sprung from his chair and gesticulated towards Stan that he had to take it.

His Grunkle only shrugged and continued to eat. Dipper went into the living-room, before he actually answered.

“Hello?”

“Say kid, how long am I supposed to wait for you?”

It was hard for Dipper to keep his voice low, but he managed.

“You are already here?”

“Yeah, where else should I be?”

“Shit,” Dipper cursed under his breath.

“I’m happy to see you too. Now will you join me or not?”

“Yes, yes! I want to, I only...just give me 10 minutes, ok?”

“Whatever,” Bill replied and the line went dead again.

Dipper leaned against the wall and massaged his temples. Truth be told he was really looking forward to see Bill again. He had never had a friend like Bill, although he wasn’t even sure that Bill also saw Dipper as a friend.

Stan was just reaching over the table to grab Dipper’s noodles, when Dipper entered the kitchen again.

“Can I have that?” Stan asked and Dipper nodded absent-mindedly. The young man tapped his lips a few times and then he turned around to his Grunkle again.

“I will meet with some friends tonight, so you better don’t wait for me.”

Upon hearing this the old man’s eyes lit up and he even raised from his chair and clapped Dipper heavily on his back.

“That’s the spirit boy! You should enjoy life in the real world every now and then and not waste your time in front of your computer!”

Dipper had to cough.

“I’m not wasting my life! That’s my job and I earn money with sitting in front of my laptop!”

“Yeah, yeah! Just get a little wasted tonight for me.” Stan laughed and sat down again.

“Sure.”

Dipper couldn’t help but turn around several times after he left the Shack. He could hardly believe that things went so smoothly for once. He expected that Stan would jump out of the door at any moment to stop Dipper, but nothing happened and soon Dipper arrived at the parking lot for the tourists, where he had no difficulties to spot the blond man, he had so hoped to see, leaning against his car.

“Hey!” Dipper greeted, but Bill only gave him a nod and got into the car. Dipper’s shoulders slumped, but he tired not to think too much about it and he also opened the door and entered the car.

After Dipper had closed his side, Bill already started the engine and drove towards the street into the woods.

“So, where are we going?” Dipper finally dared to ask. A short glance towards Bill hadn’t provided him with any clue. The blond was wearing his usual attire with a white button down shirt, black waistcoat and a yellow tie, combined with dress pants. Dipper wondered how Bill would look wearing sweatpants and a hoodie.

“Just wait and see!” Bill announced and winked at him.

Frowning Dipper leaned back into his seat and gazed outside the window.

“Any problems with Stan?” Bill suddenly asked.

“No, I told him I was meeting some friends.”

“Oh, but am I not your friend?”

With a shocked expression Dipper turned towards Bill.

“Of course you are. My best friend probably!”

Bill’s face lit up with a smile before he returned his attention on the street.

There was a warm feeling that started to spread through Dipper’s stomach and it made him wonder if that was what friendship was about and why his Grunkle always encouraged him to make friends and hang out with them.

After half an hour Dipper realized that they had arrived in a more crowded area of the city. The streets were full of people and lined with stores, bars, clubs and restaurants. This was probably the place to be for every Saturday night Dipper reckoned.

It didn’t take much longer and Bill was parking the car inside an underground carpark. When Bill got out of the car, Dipper hastened to follow him.

This part of Gravity Falls was a lot different from the Mystery Shack and the quietness of the woods. There was noise everywhere and the smell wasn’t fresh and inviting in the way Dipper was used to while living far from the city centre.

Bill had his hands parked inside his pockets and casually walked along the pavement. He looked like he belonged right in here, because he blended in perfectly. Dipper however had his difficulties to keep track. He got easily distracted by all the flashing lights and every now and then he would get run over by other people that crossed his way.

Finally Bill stopped and when Dipper reached him, he looked around questioningly.

“There,” Bill indicated with his head, not bothering to remove his hands from his pockets.

To Dipper’s left was a stone staircase, that led to an entrance inside the basement. It was easy to be overlooked, but the sign above the door said “The Sock Opera”.

Dipper swallowed and hesitated. He remembered that his last visit at a night club had caused him a lot of trouble at his university.

Bill seemed to sense something too and he turned around.

“Something wrong?”

The brunet hesitated and started to pick at the hem of his hoodie.

“Well, last time we met at the ‘Nightmare Realm’ my professor at university told me if I ever go to a nightclub again I will get expelled.”

“Really?” Bill didn’t look surprised at all, actually he looked as if he was holding back a laughter.

“Bill, that’s serious!”

“Don’t worry, kid!” Bill laughed out and he put both his hands on Dipper’s shoulders and manoeuvred him down the stairs and into the building.

There were two security guards waiting for Dipper behind the door, but they only gave Bill a nod and they could pass unhindered. When they left the small entrance area and passed through a heavy red curtain Bill’s hands were still resting on Dipper’s shoulders. Although Dipper was wearing his hoodie and a shirt, he felt as if Bill’s hands were burning right through the fabric into his skin. He wanted to shake them off, but then again he didn’t want to.

The room they had entered was like a little cabaret theatre with small round tables and chairs gathered around a stage.

Without further ado Bill pushed Dipper further into the room and only stopped when they had arrived at their destination. Just like last time it was the best seat in the whole room because it was inside a booth with some curtains that still provided the best view on the stage.

Bill causally took his seat and invited Dipper to follow his lead.

With a sigh Dipper sat down and resisted the urge to hide his face under the hood.

Only a second later a young women appeared out of nowhere and asked for their order.

“Martini please!” Bill smiled, but Dipper held out a hand.

“What? You can’t drink and drive!”

Bill’s eyes lit up with amusement.

“I can’t?”

“No, of course not!”

“Well, that’s a problem then, because I will have this drink.”

The waitress politely stepped aside, giving both men room to keep their conversation private.

“Bill!” Dipper was at a loss for words.

“Ok, then I drive.”

This made Bill laugh.

“So you drive me to the Mystery Shack and then? Stan will sure be happy to see me.”

“Of course not. I will drive you home!”

Now Bill was grinning from ear to ear.

“Deal!” He held out one hand for Dipper, who was a little taken aback, but shook it nevertheless.

Afterwards Bill called the young women a second time.

“A Pit Cola,” Dipper ordered in defeat and shook his head, while wondering where his common sense was going every time he met Bill.

“Will you tell me now, why we are here?” Dipper asked and propped his arm onto the desk so that he could rest his chin in his hand.

“For fun!” Bill smiled again and took the drink the waitress was handing him.

When Dipper was just about to say something he noticed that people started to move on the stage. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized that the singer Pacifica Northwest had entered the stage. She was wearing another breathtaking long dress, that hugged her body in a very sensual way and the moment the music started playing, Dipper was immediately entranced by her voice.

Only after the first song had finished Dipper came back to reality and the look that Bill was giving him felt rather unnerving.

Quickly Dipper took a sip from his drink, to avoid any eye contact.

“See! I thought you would like this! I remembered that you enjoyed her show.”

Dipper only nodded and focused on his drink.

“I can still arrange a meeting or if you want her number, I can arrange that too,” Bill teased the younger man, who immediately looked up in shock.

“No! I mean, she’s pretty, but no.”

“Not your type?”

“I…,” Dipper wasn’t sure how to answer and he also became painstakingly aware of the fact that his cheeks were turning pink the longer he felt Bill’s stare resting on his face.

Fortunately the waitress showed up in this exact moment and Bill ordered another drink, much to Dipper’s chagrin.

The next song started to play and Dipper tried to relax and for once just enjoy the moment. He even allowed himself to close his eyes and he tapped his fingers to the rhythm. It was easy to forget about Gideon, his Grunkle and the Mystery Shack, but instead Dipper couldn’t help but think about Bill, who was probably watching his every move. Dipper wondered if that was what friends were doing and when he opened his eyes again to check on Bill, he was caught off guard, because Bill was indeed staring right into his eyes. Dipper froze on the spot and he was sure that his heart had stopped beating and that the music had stopped playing and that the whole world had stopped spinning, because for Dipper right now there was only Bill and his stomach was doing strange somersaults.

Feeling his face heating up, Dipper quickly excused himself and sprung from the chair. He had no idea where he would find the toilets and he didn’t even need one, but he had to get away from Bill or he would loose his mind.

Luckily there was a sign that indicated the way towards the restrooms and Dipper stumbled towards the corridor, one hand pressed to his aching chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished writing this fic!!  
> Last three chapters were not easy, but I think they are okay. Well, now I will read through all of it once more and then will post all the chapters bit by bit.  
> I hope you'll like where this is going :'D


	9. Chapter 9

When Dipper returned from the restrooms, he found Bill where he had left him inside their private booth with a new drink in front of him.

Bill gave him a nod and emptied the content of his Martini with one gulp. Although Dipper felt a lot more collected after he had splashed his face with cold water, he wasn’t sure how he should behave normally.

“Hey kid, you all right?” Bill inquired with one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, sure,” Dipper shrugged and gave Bill a forced smile. The blond man didn’t push the topic any further and they both sat in silence again, listening to Pacifica’s angelic voice.

It was around 02:00 am in the night, when the concert was over and Bill asked Dipper if he wanted to go back.

Only when they arrived at Bill’s car did Dipper remember that he had offered to drive Bill home. What Dipper hadn’t considered was how he himself was supposed to get home in the middle of the night after dropping Bill at his house and returning the car back to him.

Bill fumbled with the keys and he was already about to get into the car, when Dipper stopped him, grabbing his hands.

“We made a deal! I drive.”

“Oh,” Bill’s eyes widened and he handed the keys to Dipper without a fight. There was a strange smirk plastered over Bill’s face that Dipper couldn’t quite read.

Dipper got into the drivers seat and he was already preparing his phone for the navigation, when Bill also joined him inside the car.

“Fasten your seatbelt please,” Dipper commanded, which made Bill burst out with laughter once more.

“Kid, you are hilarious.”

Still he did as he was told without any more complaints, much to Dipper’s relief.

After a few miles Bill seemed to have fallen asleep and Dipper used the time to collect himself and to go through his options how to return home.

He would probably call a taxi or if that was too expensive for the whole way, he might also walk the last part or check for some night bus.

Under no circumstances whatsoever he would stay at Bill’s place for the night. And with this thought Dipper’s stomach started to churn again. No, he would not stay! He chanted this over and over, until he had finally arrived at Bill’s house and parked the car in front of it.

“Hey Bill, we are there,” Dipper spoke softly and shook him lightly.

“Hm?” Bill sighed and opened his eyes with much effort.

“I offered to drive you home, you remember? We are here.”

Bill looked a little confused and his gaze went back and forth between Dipper and his front door until realization finally hit home.

“Right!” Bill grinned, his eyes much more awake now.

Both men got out of the car and Dipper walked Bill towards the front door, where he finally handed him the car-key over.

“Thanks for the invitation. I had a lot of fun!”

Dipper was about to turn around, when a hand held on to his wrist.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home?” Dipper turned around with his eyebrows raised, while a small inner voice begged for Bill to not ask him to stay over.

“Home? You can stay at my place of course. I have more than enough room. There is a guest-room...”

But Dipper cut him off with a smile.

“Ah that would be too much to ask! I’m fine really. I will call a taxi and then I’ll be home within a few minutes, really.”

“Ok,” Bill seemed to hesitate, one hand still around Dipper’s arm, “but then you can at least wait inside the house for the taxi, no?”

That was actually a fair point, but Dipper feared that all his resolve would crumble as soon as he would put one toe inside Bill’s house. He still hadn’t figured out his feeling for Bill and he didn’t want to be confronted with them again for tonight.

However the look that Bill was giving him, was melting down all of Dipper’s walls and he only shrugged in self-defeat.

“Yeah, I guess I can do that.”

Bill gave him a smile that could have been mistaken for the sun rising on the horizon, before he turned around and opened the door. With some irritation Dipper realized that Bill was still holding on to him.

When the door closed behind Dipper, the blond finally let go of him and Dipper was just about to get his phone out to call a taxi service, when he was suddenly forcefully pushed against the wood of the door.

His phone fell to the floor, but that was the least thing that Dipper was worried about, because Bill’s hands were holding on to the front of his shirt and soft lips were pressing against his.

Whatever Dipper had expected to happen tonight, it was certainly not this. He could taste the alcohol on Bill’s lips and maybe he would have enjoyed this moment, if it wasn’t for his lack of oxygen and the pain on the back of his head, where he had collided with the door.

Only seconds later Bill leaned back and let go off Dipper’s shirt. His eyes were full with desire and Dipper had to swallow hard, before he finally managed to lean down in order to pick up his phone as if nothing had happened just now.

Bill patiently waited for Dipper to stand up again, not moving a muscle.

“I think I drunk too much,” he apologized and raked his fingers through his hair. “Sorry.”

Dipper nodded, his legs had become jelly and he was lacking the capability to speak.

The blond then turned around and waved towards a corridor.

“The guest-rooms are there. Choose what you like. My room is upstairs and don’t worry, I won’t give you any more unwelcome visits this night.”

Dipper wanted to protest. He still meant to take a taxi, but Bill was already walking up the stairs, leaving Dipper behind in the entrance hall dumbfounded.

For a very long time Dipper just stared at the ceiling. In the end he had decided to stay over night, because his legs had refused to walk him anywhere.

The guest-room was more than spacious and the bed he was now lying on was a lot more comfortable than his bed back at the Mystery Shack. There was even a bathroom attached to it, which was equipped with the most necessary things like one would find at a hotel.

Still his brain wouldn’t let him sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he could still fell Bill’s lips on his own and his heart started to race inside his chest. Just when he had realized himself that he seemed to have that kind of feelings towards Bill, the other confused him even more. Had this been an accident? Was it really only because of the alcohol?

Dipper turned around for the millionst time hugging his own knees, his cheeks burning. There had been some disastrous relationships before in Dipper’s life, but none of them had thrown him off balance like this. Usually he wasn’t the emotional type, which was why the women he had been dating soon lost interest in him. Dipper would lie if he had felt heartbroken over any of them, but this was different in so many ways.

Different because Dipper didn’t knew he was attracted to men in the first place, different because Bill was supposed to be his friend, different because Bill was around ten years older than him.

It was no use, Dipper sighed again and reached out for his phone. However he had no charger at hand therefore he had turned it off in order to save some battery life. Deciding against turning it on again, he threw himself back into the sheets.

He tried his best to think about nothing, especially not about the next morning and how he was supposed to look at Bill. In then end sleep took him and he finally drifted off.

When Dipper opened his eyes again, he had already forgotten where he was and sprung from his bed with a start. After a few heartbeats memories crept back into his mind and his heart only started to beat even faster. Sighing Dipper sat down on the bed again, his head resting in his palms.

“What should I do?”

For starters he went into the bathroom and tried to save whatever there was to save. One look into the mirror told him that he looked horrible and he needed a shower. However he decided against it, for several personal reasons at once.

He brushed his teeth, tried to comb his hair and put on the clothes from the day before, which unsurprisingly were a little smelly.

He also turned his phone back on and checked for any incoming messages. Except for the usual spam-mails from Gideon there was nothing new. Shocked, that it was already past 01:00 pm Dipper rushed out of the door, the fear about meeting Bill forgotten.

However when he came into the living room there was no one to be found. Dipper wondered if Bill might also still be sleeping, but when he walked over to the kitchen he found a sticky note on the counter.

“ _Hey kid, I had to leave early. Have some breakfast, do whatever you want to. If you steal something, I know where you live._ ”

Dipper laughed out loud and raked another hand through his hair. For once luck was on his side and he could sort out his feelings before seeing Bill. Provided Bill still wanted to meet him again. If Dipper was even more lucky, he might have forgotten about the kiss already.

After several long bus rides, Dipper was finally back in the safety of his room. Stan had given him a thumps up for doing the walk of shame and thankfully he hadn’t asked anything further nor did he ask Dipper to do his shift in the shop.

Therefore Dipper took a long hot shower and afterwards he prepared himself some food. Up until now he hadn’t even realized that he was actually starving, but when the smell of food had finally hit his nose, his stomach was crying out loud.

Sitting at the table and stuffing a sandwich into his mouth Dipper checked some news on his phone. He was just about to get up and prepare a second round, when the kitchen door opened and Stan’s head appeared.

“Hey kid, I want you to meet someone.”

Dipper’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Stan never got any visitors, except for the strange men wearing black, that sometimes appeared out of nowhere.

“Yeah, sure.”

He nodded and stood up, following his Grunkle into the shop, where Dipper was greeted with a shock of long red hair.

“Dipper, please meet Wendy. She will be another temp, so you can split your shifts from now on.”

“Hey there Dipper, nice to meet you!”

The women with the red hair smiled at him and held out her hand. She was dressed casually with blue jeans and an emerald green plaid shirt with a white tank top underneath.

For no particular reason at all, Dipper felt his cheeks heat up.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” he mumbled and shook her hand a little awkwardly. Her smile became even more disarming and Dipper quickly let go of her hand as if otherwise he would get burned.

“Ok, great,” Stan gruffly interrupted. “Now Dipper, please show her around and explain everything to her. The onboarding is your responsibility.”

“Y-yes,” Dipper nodded, until the words finally sunk in and his had snapped towards his Grunkle.

“What?”

Suddenly Wendy’s arm was around his shoulder and the woman leaned closer to him, giving Stan a thumps up.

“Don’t worry Mister Pines! Dipper and me, we will be the dream team!”

Things were happening way too fast for Dipper’s taste and he really wanted to shrug Wendy’s arm off as soon as possible, but the woman was much stronger than Dipper would have expected and she wouldn’t let him go.

Grinning from ear to ear she waved Stan off, who went out of the shop to give another Mystery Tour.

When he was out of sight, Wendy finally let go, only to push Dipper against the wall. The sudden impact made Dipper gasp for air and his eyes were wide in shock. Wendy’s eyes were narrowed to slits and she leaned in close to Dipper’s face, while her hands kept his pinned to the sides.

“Listen boy, don’t get into my way and you will lead a very happy life. However if you do,” she made a gesture with one of her hands as if she would cut Dipper’s throat.

“Did I make myself clear?” Her eyes bore into his and Dipper nodded helplessly. Eventually she let go of him and immediately she switched back to her laid-back nature.

“Cool, then we will get along very well!”

Dipper couldn’t help but wonder, how it was possible for one person alone to attract all the freaks of one city at once. Everyone had lost their minds in Gravity Falls. Wendy’s behaviour was more than strange, but Dipper felt too overwhelmed to still care.

He showed her around and explained all the details to her, just like Stan had asked of him. Wendy followed all the instructions and later on they discussed the shifts.

When Wendy finally left again, Dipper sighed in relief. Since both of them would work apart from each other he would probably only rarely meet her again. However a tiny voice told him, that after today he should probably very closely watch over her, which was exactly what she had asked him not to do.

Dipper wondered if she actually wanted to be watched, because with her behaviour she was drawing all the attention towards her and not the other way around.

Back in his room he tried to do some background check, however Stan had told Dipper that he had never asked her full name, because he didn’t give her a contract, because he wanted to save taxes or something like this.

It seemed that a lot of people with the name “Wendy” were registered in Gravity Falls and after a few hours of research Dipper was convinced that this was a fake name.

This town was rotten to the core, Dipper realized and checked his mails again. He hadn’t done it during the day, because he feared to receive another invitation from his Professor after last nights events. However nothing of that sort showed up, only another one from Gideon. Since it was a normal message this time, Dipper opened it.

From: GideonGleeful@tentoftelepathy.com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

_[_ _Dear Mister Pines,_

_what a coincidence that M_ _ister_ _Mystery seems to have left the Shack? Obviously you are home alone. Are you afraid of the dark?_ _]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First some fluff and then a cliffhanger!!!! I'am so sorry D:


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence and Swearing!

_[_ _Are you afraid of the dark?_ _]_

Panic was gripping Dipper’s chest and he quickly closed his laptop and was just about to leave his room to check upon his Grunkle, when suddenly the lights went out.

Startled Dipper froze right where he was standing, the doorknob in his hand. He started to listen to any kind of sound that would reach him from the other side of the door, but his own pulse was hammering too loudly inside his ears and even swallowing seemed to make an impossible loud noise.

For a few seconds nothing happened, but this made Dipper only more anxious. Suddenly he heard a voice from outside the house.

“Well, well, I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but I always get what I want you know?”

Dipper turned around and run towards the window. Hiding behind the curtains he peeked outside. Gideon was standing in front of the house with a megaphone in his hand, his frame illuminated by several car headlights. He was grinning from ear to ear and looked highly amused.

“Shit!” Dipper cursed, because Gideon wasn’t alone. Several dark figures were hidden in the shadows and slowly crept towards the Shack.

Hadn’t he seen his Grunkle only a few hours ago? Stan had never told him he was about to leave. But it wasn’t completely impossible. If Gideon dared to approach Dipper like this, he had probably lured Stan away beforehand.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Dipper swore and he had no idea what he should do. Without knowing why, he held his phone suddenly in his hand. For a second he thought about calling the police, but decided against it. He opened a new message for Bill and wrote only one word:

_[Help]_

Out of the blue the lights went on again and Dipper had to shield his eyes. The next moment he heard wood breaking, followed by the sound of steps of people who hastily ascended the stairs.

Rendered immobile by fear, Dipper could only helplessly watch, when his door got kicked in by a man with a mask, wearing all black.

Dipper’s mouth opened, however he had no idea what he should say. Did they come to kill him, to torture him or just to kidnap him?

Two other men entered the room and started to rummage through the shelves and drawers. Dipper’s eyes darted towards his laptop and the USB-stick that was still attached to it and he had a mind to jump towards it and protect it with his life if need be, however it seemed that one of the men was predicting his movement and stopped him on the spot.

Muscled arms were gripping around his waist, holding him to the spot. This was around the time where Dipper completely lost it.

“Let go! Let me go!!!”

He kicked around himself and tried to struggle free, but the man was way too strong. Without his arms Dipper’s last option was to use the moment of surprise and he swung his head backwards, effectively hitting the man on the nose.

“Fuck you little shit!!!!Will you behave!”

Sadly the grip didn’t loosen an inch and Dipper felt the back of his head starting to throb.

“We will teach you a lesson!” The man behind him screamed into his ear. Out of the corner of his eye Dipper saw one of the men grabbing the laptop from his bed.

“Look what we have here!” He cheered and plucked the stick from the computer. He held it up to the lights and turned it around a few times, before he gave it to another person, who took it and stuffed it into a bag, along with some other devices like external hard drives, the laptop and such.

“That’s exactly what Gideon was searching for! He will be so proud of us.”

For a brief second Dipper wanted to complain, but he kept his mouth shut, because he had a feeling like those men had already spilled too much. Soon another man was stepping in front of Dipper, cracking his gloved fingers.

Panic was bubbling up Dipper’s throat and without realizing it, words had left his mouth.

“Please! Leave me alone!!!!”

“Nah, as if!”

The kick that hit Dipper in his stomach was nearly making him vomit. If it wasn’t for the arms holding him tight from behind, he would have dropped to the ground in pain.

Tears were blinding his vision and therefore he didn’t see the next kick coming.

He screamed out in pain, the tears now flowing freely down his cheeks. His legs couldn’t support him anymore and he slumped down, however the man behind him mercilessly held him up. Dipper received a few more blows and he prayed in his mind that someone will make it end. If he would die now, it would have been ok too, everything that would make it end was fine with him in that moment. When he was finally greeted with a fist that swung right on his left temple everything around Dipper went black and he welcomed the numbness.

For how long Dipper had been unconscious he couldn’t tell. He heard voices around him, but he was blindfolded and his hands were tied on his back. He was on the ground, lying on his stomach and he heard voices.

“Give me the phone. Any problems?”

“No Sir, everything went just as planned.”

“Good.”

Sadly Dipper wasn’t able to keep himself awake much longer and he drifted back into sweet nothingness. The last thought that Dipper had, was that one voice had sounded familiar, but it could also have been his imagination.

The next time he drifted back into reality the first thing Dipper realised was that everything hurt. Breathing hurt, his head had the worst headache ever and his legs and arms felt too heavy to be moved. Therefore Dipper decided to not move at all and continue to keep his eyes closed. As soon as he would open them, he was sure that nothing good would be greeting him. Like this he could enjoy a moment of peace, before the next hell would break lose.

The memories of the last hours of his miserable life came back crashing into his mind and his heart started to race involuntarily, which resulted in Dipper having a panic attack. His breathing became short and his eyes flew wide open. He struggled to get up, but the pain inside his chest was too much to take. Instantly he fell back into soft cushions, gasping for air.

While he was preoccupied with staying alive, he didn’t realize that a man was approaching him.

“Kid, your awake!”

Dipper’s head snapped around, fear already taking over and he would have jumped from the couch, if he wasn’t about to pass out again.

However the man next to him was sitting on the ground, giving him a worried but encouraging smile.

“Pine Tree, it’s me Bill. You are safe here.”

“Bill...” Dipper nearly chocked on the word and he leaned back and allowed his eyes to close again, concentrating only on his breathing.

When he had successfully subdued the panic, tears started to flow down his cheeks again, that Dipper just couldn’t hide any longer.

“Hey, hey, everything will be allright!” Bill cooed and his hand was suddenly stroking Dipper’s hair.

Even if Dipper had wanted to slap the hand away, he was too overwhelmed and too tired.

“How did you find me?” Dipper asked a little hoarsely.

“You send me a message, remember?”

Dipper wiped some tears from his eyes, with the back of his hand.

“Right,” Dipper remembered the exact moment and all the fear and pain connected to it.

“But...they kidnapped me. How did you know where to search?”

Bill’s eyes shone and he straighten his shoulders a little.

“You know, I can do a little hacking too. And finding your GPS wasn’t too difficult, after I hacked into your old Ingress* account, I was able to locate you anywhere on this planet.”

This made Dipper laugh, although he had to stop, since it was too painful.

“Do you know anything about my Grunkle, I mean Stan?”

“He should be all right. I send him a message through your phone that you are ok and he replied, that he is sorry that he fell for Gideon’s trap.”

“Oh,” Dipper looked a little shocked, “you wrote him?”

“I didn’t tell him it was me of course,” Bill chuckled.

Suddenly Dipper seemed to remember something important and his hands reached out for Bill’s shoulders.

“Bill! The USB-Stick! Gideon took it.”

Dipper’s eyes started to fill with tears again and Bill carefully put his own hands on Dipper’s, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“You don’t need to worry about this now.”

“But Bill! Gideon will have two sticks and who knows what he is going to to with it!”

“I know, but I promise you, that tomorrow everything will be ok again. Do you trust me?”

Bill’s voice had become serious and his eyes were fixed on Dipper.

“I…,” Dipper felt his cheeks burn and he had to look away, before he could reply.

“I trust you.”

“Good.”

For some minutes it was only Dipper’s sobbing that could be heard, until Bill spoke up again.

“I’m sorry Dipper, but since you are awake I need to take care of your wounds.”

“What?” Dipper pushed himself up into a sitting position, which made him groan in agony again, holding his hand to his stomach.

Now that he had the clarity to take in the scene he realized that he looked like a mess. His clothes were filthy and partly torn and here and there was dried blood, probably his own.

“I can do it myself,” Dipper replied and meant to stand up, but failed, because his legs were like jelly and his vision went black.

“Kid, now is not the time to act brave.”

Dipper who’s breathing had started to become unsteady again, gave Bill an angry look from the couch.

“Let’s start with your chest ok. Let’s remove the shirt…,” Bill was about to reach for the fabric, when Dipper forcefully slapped his hand away.

Even Dipper himself was surprised and his hand froze in mid-air.

“Sorry,” he stuttered and tried to get the shirt off himself in vain.

Bill rolled his eyes and approached Dipper once more. With one swift motion the fabric was torn in two and Dipper’s mouth started to open and close in silent protest.

“There! Much faster my way.”

Bill then turned around and Dipper realized that he had already prepared a few things like a basin with water, a sponge and some tape and alcohol.

“I will clean everything in the first step. If it’s too much, just tell me.”

Dipper nodded, although he actually didn’t agree with this. It felt awkward to sit in front of Bill with his chest bare. Although this wasn’t the moment for shyness and Bill only meant well, Dipper tried to avoid eye contact at all costs.

Bill carefully washed the blood and grime away, only touching him with fabric and never making skin to skin contact.

When Bill disinfected the wounds, Dipper bit down on his cheeks, soon tasting fresh blood, but he didn’t cry out.

“Now, I will apply this balm, which should help to reduce the swelling. Sorry, if this is a bit cold.”

Shocked to the core, Dipper watched in horror how Bill’s hand was getting closer and closer towards his chest, until it made contact.

The sensation of Bill’s hand softly stroking over his skin was nearly too much for Dipper to take and he started coughing.

“Sorry,” Bill whispered, but continued his work. Each touch was like fire on his skin and it made Dipper wonder if it was the effect of the balm or if it was Bill. Although Dipper’s whole body was aching, he couldn’t help but feel pulled towards Bill’s touch and it made him see stars in a different way than before.

The moment Bill removed his hand again, it felt like someone had cut a part of Dipper from his body and he was sure that his eyes had betrayed his feelings, because Bill tilted his head, like he was about to say something.

However he turned around to the table and when he faced Dipper again, he held a glass of water and a pill in his hand.

“Here take this.”

“What is it?” Dipper stared at the pill. He hated medicine in general, but he hated pills even more. He had nearly choked on one pill when he was younger during a bad tonsillitis. Since then he would only take one, if his life depended upon it. Also just like with drinking alcohol, he didn’t like the feeling of loosing control over his own body.

“This will help you fall asleep, so that your body and mind can heal.”

“I don’t want it,” Dipper said with a certain finality, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Dipper,” Bill sighed, “you leave me no choice.”

Bill took a sip of water and then he pushed the pill into his own mouth, before he approached Dipper, who only watched in horror the things unfolding in front of him.

One of Bill’s hands tipped Dipper’s head to the back and the other made his lips part, then he pressed their lips together. Shocked about the water that was suddenly invading his mouth, Dipper couldn’t help but swallow.

Bill leaned back again, grinning.

“There, good boy.”

Coughing Dipper glowered at Bill.

“I hate you,” he spat, but Bill didn’t seem to mind. He turned around and cleaned up the bloody mess on his coffee table.

“Sweet dreams, Pine Tree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Anyone still knows about Ingress? It‘s like the predecessor for Pokemon Go. 
> 
> I'm crying for my baby Dipper ;__; I treated him badly in this chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

“NO! Please NO!”

Dipper woke up with a start, his body was drenched in cold sweat and when he tried to lift himself up into a sitting position the pain was making him see stars. With a grimace Dipper fell backwards and took a few deep breaths. He opened his eyes and realized that he wasn’t on Bill’s couch anymore. Right now it seemed that he was back in one of Bill’s guest-rooms. The second attempt to sit up made him wince, but he managed to endure the soreness of his muscles. His mouth felt dry and it had a sour taste, which Dipper blamed on the pill that Bill had made him swallow.

Next to his bed was a glass of water and Dipper reached out for it and gulped it down in one swing.

There was so much that Dipper was feeling right now, that his hand was shaking, when he placed the glass back on the nightstand.

There was the poisonous fear and the memory of last nights events that made him want to hide inside a hole for the rest of his life and then there was Bill. The man had saved him. He had rescued him from his own personal hell and he had taken care of him. That was something that only a true friend would do. However Dipper couldn’t help it, but feel that by now friendship wouldn’t be enough anymore. He craved for the others touch, for the others lips. Like a mosquito that yearned for the light, although it would burn when getting too close. But Dipper wanted this closeness, he wanted to burn himself and as long as it was Bill, he didn’t mind.

Then again Dipper wasn’t sure if Bill really felt the same. They had kissed once, but it might have been an accident. Last night, when Bill had forced the sedative down his throat didn’t count as a kiss, too.

On the other hand, Dipper wasn’t entirely ignorant on the way Bill was looking at him. There had been times when Bill had been checking him out and there had been moments when Dipper had been sure that something like desire had lingered in the others eyes.

But it was also possible that this was only wishful thinking.

With a lot of effort Dipper managed to get up out of bed and he stumbled towards the bathroom. Much to his surprise he realized that someone must have removed his pants, but thankfully not also his underwear.

Dipper tried not to imagine how Bill had removed the fabric from his body. He hoped that he had still been conscious enough to do it himself.

Inside the bathroom new clothes were already waiting for him. It seemed that Bill had left him some pair of jeans, a shirt and a hoodie. This really looked like nothing that Bill just happened to have and Dipper suspected that he had purchased it just for him. It made his heart ache and he pressed the clothes to his chest.

Getting dressed was a whole new experience with all the injuries that were still hurting like hell. It took him an eternity to pull that damn shirt over his shoulders and even longer to struggle into the jeans. It must have been Bill’s strange humour that made him think that Dipper would like to wear a pair of skinny jeans!

Finally dressed and panting from the effort Dipper checked his reflection in the mirror. He couldn’t help but approve Bill’s choice, because it made Dipper look a lot more mature while still maintaining his nerdy-ness.

When Dipper opened the door and left for the living room, he pushed all negative thoughts aside for once. He should thank Bill from the bottom of his heart and the rest would somehow solve itself.

Only when Dipper entered the room, he was all alone once again. From a distance he spotted his own phone on the coffee table attached to a charger and next to it was another sticky note that was attached to the TV’s remote.

Slowly Dipper walked over and leaned down to take the note.

“ _Good morning, kid. Watch the news!_ ”

Dipper’s eyebrows raised up and he carefully sat down and took the remote. After he had switched the TV on it was already on the local News-channel.

With a clutter the remote dropped to the floor, the moment Dipper saw the red headline and the ticker at the bottom of the screen.

“This can’t be true…,” Dipper whispered and listened to the reporter that was broadcasting live from the ‘Tent of Telepathy’.

“ _This is something no one would have expected!_ _Just about half an hour ago the Police of Gravity Falls has arrested CEO of The Tent of Telepathy Bud Gleeful and his son Gideon Gleeful._

_It seems that data has leaked that the security software that was developed here in order to protect our data from fraudsters, was actually a fraudulent software itself that was programmed to spy on it’s users._

_We received material that shows, that not only passwords and other sensitive data was gathered by this company but it was also possible to activate the camera and the microphone in order to spy on everything that would have been said and done in front of the compromised device. This wasn’t only a problem for a computer, but any other device like smartphones, tablets or even smartwatches had been turned into monitoring systems!_

_A whistle-blower provided the police with proof that these information were used in order to blackmail politicians and other influential people of society._

_There will be an investigation regarding the involvement of the employees. For now the company is closed and_ _all hardware was confiscated by..._ ”

Dipper turned off the TV. He couldn’t believe it. This was what Bill had been talking about, when he had assured Dipper that everything would turn around this day. If so, Bill had been leading a dangerous life, when he had acted like a double agent inside Gideon’s company.

Closing his eyes again, Dipper let his head fall back and he leaned against the padding. This man was a hero! How was it possible that Stan loathed Bill and even saw him at fault regarding the disappearance of his brother. Everything must have been a big misunderstanding. Dipper trusted Bill with all his heart. Whatever Bill was going to ask of him, he would be willing to do it without question. Maybe even if it meant to act against his own family. The thought gave him a pang into his stomach, but he had made up his mind.

When Dipper heard the front door click back into it’s lock, he wanted to jump up in order to greet Bill, but his injuries were effectively preventing him from doing so. Therefore he only craned his neck to see a glimpse of the blond man.

“Hey Pine Tree, how are you feeling today?”

Bill’s face lit up with a smile the moment he spotted the young man sitting on the couch.

“Bill!” Dipper nearly yelled, too excited to care.

“I saw the news! This is…just wow. I can’t believe it that Gideon was arrested!”

Bill chuckled and he sat down next to Dipper his arms crossed behind his head.

“Yup, you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“It was you wasn’t it? You leaked the data to the police?”

Of course Dipper knew the answer to this, but he had to make sure.

“Maybe,” Bill winked at the other.

“But won’t the police interrogate you too?”

“Nope, I erased all my data, before I left. For all they know, I never worked there.”

“Clever,” Dipper praised and smiled in earnest.

“But, that also means you don’t have a monthly income anymore?”

This amused Bill even more.

“I might or might not have transferred a little of the money from Gideon’s account to my own.”

Dipper couldn’t help but laugh along with Bill. Never in his life would Dipper feel sorry for Gideon. He deserved being arrested, if this was even enough.

“Also,” Bill grinned from ear to ear, “I found something that you might have missed.”

Dipper tilted his head in confusion, but then Bill handed him his laptop over.

“Oh my god, you saved it! And the USB-Stick?”

“Here!” Bill held the little device up into the air.

“And,...I present to you the other stick that Gideon had stolen!”

Now Bill was holding up both sticks one in each hand and Dipper felt the strong urge to hug Bill.

“Wow! That’s amazing!! Now we might find out a little bit more about the past and the program that Stanford and you had been working on!”

“Right,” Bill nodded solemnly, “and it’s all thanks to you, kid.”

“Huh? To me?” Dipper’s eyes went wide like saucers.

“Yep, without you I would never have found the courage to act against that little pig. But after what he has done to you, I couldn’t hold back anymore.”

Dipper was speechless and he still didn’t move an inch, when Bill put the USB-Sticks down and one hand reached out and cupped Dipper’s cheek.

“You know Pine Tree. You are very dear to me and the thought of loosing you was too much to bear.”

Dipper suddenly felt a lump building up inside his throat, he tried to swallow but he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that was nearly suffocating.

“I don’t want to be parted from you, ever.”

Was it only Dipper’s imagination or was Bill’s face getting closer every second. Or maybe Dipper had started to lean into Bill first. He couldn’t tell and eventually their lips met and Dipper closed his eyes.

If this was a dream he never wanted to wake up again. Bill’s lips were soft and only lingered for the shortest time on Dipper’s, before he pulled back and looked Dipper deep into his eyes.

Whatever he was searching, he must have found it, because the second time Bill closed the distance between their faces, it was with much more urgency.

Bill was kissing him in earnest this time, wet lips pressing on his, tasting every inch of skin he could get and it pulled Dipper finally out of his stupor.

Hesitantly Dipper laid one hand on the small of Bill’s back, which resulted in Bill pressing his body closer to Dipper’s.

Also a tongue asked for permission to enter Dipper’s mouth and continue to explore. Too overwhelmed by the sensation, Dipper opened up for him and their tongues entwined and playfully circled each other.

Meanwhile the hand that had been on Dipper’s cheek was now buried deep into his hair, not allowing Dipper to pull back even an inch and the other hand had found it’s way under Dipper’s shirt. He would have gasped, but the sound was lost somewhere between his own lips and Bill’s.

When Bill did pull back a little, Dipper hungrily gasped for air. His head felt light and his cheeks were flushed. The look on Bill’s face was sending goosebumps all over his body. The starved expression in Bill’s eyes told him that this was something he had been yearning for for a very long time.

The next moment Bill leaned down again and left a trail of kisses down Dipper’s neck. The brunet couldn’t help, but a small moan escaped his lips, which was followed by a hungry growl coming from Bill, who started to suck on the thin skin in the crook of Dipper’s neck.

The sensation was just too strong and Dipper’s hands clawed into Bill’s back for some support. The blond didn’t seem to mind and continued what he was doing, leaving little lovebites all over Dipper’s skin.

Intoxicated by Bill’s smell he buried his nose deep into the other’s hair and just took several deep breaths. He wanted to remember this for the rest of his life. Too soon, Bill had stopped kissing him and Dipper opened his eyes in confusion, however Bill was only about to change position from sitting next to Dipper, to sitting on top of him. Yet before he took his place on Dipper’s lap, he removed his waistcoat and the shirt, giving Dipper a view he would never forget.

Bill’s chest was muscular and his shoulders brought. When Bill lowered himself onto Dipper, the other couldn’t help but stare at Bill in awe. He was perfect in every way.

Without realizing it, Dipper’s hands had reached out and he was starting to explore every inch of the other man’s skin and Bill let him. First Dipper put his hands on Bill’s shoulders then he travelled further down and made chaste contact with Bill’s nipples, which seemed to send shivers down his spine. Soon Dipper had reached the navel and then he didn’t dare to go further down, although Bill’s erection was very prominent even through the fabric of his dresspants.

The blond didn’t seem to mind and decided to take the lead again. He reached for Dipper’s shirt and meant to pull it upwards, but when Dipper lifted his arms, he couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

Bill’s expression immediately became worried.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?”

“No, no it’s…,” Dipper didn’t want to ruin the moment and he tried to smile, but it ended up looking as forced as he felt it to be.

Bill sighed and held one hand to his own forehead.

“I’m sorry, what was I thinking? This, it’s not the time yet.”

Dipper wanted to protest and he reached out for Bill to convince him, that he was wrong, but when he moved his arm a sharp pain went up to his shoulder, which made him gasp out, but not in pleasure.

“See? You should rest.”

“No, I’m fine,” Dipper sobbed through clenched teeth. He wanted this so badly, but he knew it was a lost cause.

Bill sat down next to Dipper and took him into his arms, softly caressing his head.

“Don’t worry. I will remember where we stopped and I promise you to continue right there as soon as your wounds are healed.”

Dipper felt a little like defiant child, but the warmth of Bill’s body was enough to sooth him. Everything in his life was finally all right and he would forever stay at Bill’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end....or not, because we are only half way through this D:!  
> Soo yay for Gideon getting what he deserves!
> 
> By the way, the scene from the last chapter, when Bill took care of Dipper, was the first scene I had in my mind for this story. The rest was built around it and it slowly became quite a long story, lol.
> 
> Hope you still enjoy this and see you next chapter <3


	12. Chapter 12

Of course Bill had given him a ride back to the Mystery Shack and Dipper had enjoyed every second of it. When he waved Bill good-bye his heart went heavy in his chest.

Although he knew that Gideon couldn’t hurt him anymore, it was strange to return back into the Shack and he couldn’t help but feel panic, when he thought about the things that had happened there only one day ago.

Out of the blue Stan threw the front door open and came running towards Dipper.

“Boy! Are you all right? I’m so sorry!”

Dipper spotted tears glistening in Stan’s eyes, which was the most unusual thing Dipper had ever witnessed.

“It’s ok, I’m alive.”

He gave his Grunkle a cautious smile, who understood without words.

Both men sat down around the table in the kitchen and Stan looked as if he felt guilty for everything that had happened to Dipper.

“Listen Dipper, I’m really sorry. I...I don’t know what exactly happened last night, but you sure do look like shit.”

Dipper chuckled, but had to stop, because of the pain inside his chest.

“What happened here? When I came back the front door was broken and the rooms looked as if we got hit by a tornado.”

“It was Gideon,” Dipper started, but had to stop to collect himself.

“Wait, I make you some tea.”

Stan got up and busied himself at the counter. With the steaming hot tea-mug in front of him, Dipper felt a little better and he took a deep breath.

“Last night Gideon had come here, together with his minions. They broke into the Shack and…,” he couldn’t bring himself to speak it out loud. The memory alone was too painful. Without realizing it, Dipper’s hands had started to shake and he nearly spilled the tea.

“Well, they took my laptop and kidnapped me.”

From the other side of the table Dipper heard a sharp intake of breath.

“A friend however found me and he brought me over to his place.”

There was no need to elaborate on the name of his ‘friend’, Dipper reckoned and continued the story.

“In the morning I saw that Gideon got arrested, so we should be safe.”

A long silence fell over the room, until Stan finally spoke up again.

“I think I need to tell you something.”

Dipper looked up from his tea that he held like a lifeline with both hands.

Stan hesitated and his hands were fidgeting with each other on the desk.

“I...I never told you that I have a twin brother?”

Silently Dipper shook his head, trying his best to look surprised, however Stan wasn’t even looking at him, he was focused on his own hands.

“Yeah, I never mentioned him, because one day he had just vanished. He was a nerd like you,” Stan laughed, but it sounded unnatural.

“He had started a business here in Gravity Falls, together with some friends. One of them was Bill Cipher.”

The old man looked up from the desk and focused his eyes on Dipper, who only nodded awkwardly.

“They were working on a secret project, he never told me any of it. Actually back then we weren’t on very good terms. We never spoke with each other. Which was mostly my fault, because I had once done something really stupid.”

Stan sighed, but he didn’t elaborate on this any further.

“My brother was quite successful, but then one day I received a very strange message from him. He told me to come to Gravity Falls and watch over his house. He told me to wait for his return.”

Another long pause followed.

“I never understood why, but after I heard about the incident at his company and that it had burned down to ashes, I told the police that I myself Stanley Pines had died there and I lived on as my brother, adopting his name Stanford Pines. Back then people had a lot of questions that I couldn’t answer and then I became the grumpy old man, that lost his mind and lived hidden inside a Shack at the edge of the city. Rumours spread and people were curious. I turned this old house into the Mystery Shack, which became quite popular. I couldn’t do much more. I never was as clever as my brother was.”

Dipper listened closely, finally hearing the words directly from his Grunkle and not from Bill.

“Last night I left the Shack, because someone had called me and said that they knew were Stanford was. I was shocked to the core. As far as I had been aware except for Bill and Fiddleford, no one knew about my real identity.”

Before Dipper could interrupt, Stan held up his hand.

“Of course it had been a trap. There was no one there and when I returned the Shack was a mess and you were missing. I did a terrible mistake. If I had been more open from the beginning, I wouldn’t have brought you in danger. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I would never have thought that Gideon would go this far.”

Both men returned back to their own inner demons and it took a while before Dipper dared to say something again.

“Who is Fiddleford?”

“Oh, his name is Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. He was my brothers best friend before he met Bill. They had set up the company together in the beginning.”

“What happened to him? Did he die during the fire?”

Stan shook his head.

“No, he’s alive. But if you ask me he would be better off dead.”

This made Dipper look up in confusion.

“He was a brilliant man, much like Stanford. But he vanished for some days and when he returned he wasn’t himself anymore. He was terribly wounded and he didn’t even know his name. The doctors said someone had tortured him and he got badly drugged. He never became his old self again afterwards.”

“Where does he live now?”

“Here and there. I don’t think he really has a home. Sometimes you can see him roaming through the streets of Gravity Falls like a homeless.”

“That’s terrible! Who did this to him?”

Stan held back for a moment as if he was contemplating the answer.

“I think it was Bill.”

“What?!” Dipper nearly jumped from his chair and Stan only shrugged.

“Of course the police couldn’t prove anything, but they didn’t even try. But I am sure that Bill is the mastermind behind everything. My brother’s disappearance, Fiddleford’s condition, everything.”

“Where is your proof?” Dipper demanded.

“I don’t have any. But Ford had changed after he had met Bill and not to the better.”

Dipper crossed his arms in front of his chest. He didn’t like any bit of this discussion. Stan had it all wrong!

“I want to bring my brother back. He is the only one who can solve this puzzle. I am sure that he is still alive and somewhere out there.”

The brunet stopped his pouting and leaned a little closer to Stan.

“How are you going to find him?”

“I…,” Stan avoided eye contact, but he continued to speak, “I have found an USB-Stick. I think my brother wanted me to have it. I don’t have much knowledge and it took me years, and I’m not exaggerating here, it took me years to even unlock the password for this little thing. And then I got hit by a million lines of program code, which I again didn’t understand.”

They were getting to the interesting part and Dipper rummaged inside the backpack that Bill had given him and he held out his own stick and the one Bill had retrieved from Gideon.

Stan’s eyes widened in shock and he nearly snatched out to take them away from Dipper, but he withdrew his hand again.

“Where did you find these?”

“I found one hidden in the forest, the other one was with Gideon.”

Dipper left out all the other details. His Grunkle would never forgive him, if he knew that he was working together with Bill and making out with him, too.

“Really? Gideon must have suspected that I had a device like this. That must haven been the reason why he kept on sending his minions over to offer me a deal to buy all the remains of Stanford’s company, including the Shack itself. I think you remember these two men. Big guys, all clad in black?”

Dipper nodded, after all that had happened he had figured it out himself where these two men had belonged to.

Stan’s eyes were still fixed on the devices in Dipper’s hand and then he suddenly sprung to his feet.

“Follow me Dipper!”

Before long Stan had vanished behind the door and Dipper had to hurry to keep up with the old man.

Soon he found himself standing inside the shop and in front of the old vending machine.

Stan checked that no one was actually watching them and he entered a secret combination into the control panel. Dipper immediately realized that it was the pattern, that he had found inside the hidden chamber in Stan’s bedroom.

Much to Dipper’s surprise the vending machine swung open like a door and a dark corridor appeared behind it.

“After you,” Stan ushered him inside and both of them walked down a long staircase, until they arrived at a large room, that looked a lot like a server room of a company.

“This was also my brother’s ‘Laboratory’. I have no idea what most of the stuff in here is good for, mostly I used this computer.”

Stan pointed towards a big tower, where three large screens where attached to and that had also a panel for exactly 3 USB-ports. In one of them was already the stick, that Stan had mentioned and Dipper wondered what would happen if all three of them were combined in here.

Stan sat down and he switched on the computer.

“Here,” he showed Dipper some parts of the code and Dipper scanned quickly over the lines.

“I think it will make much more sense when we combine the content of all three sticks.”

His Grunkle nodded and made way, so that Dipper could reach the ports.

When Dipper plugged the first device in he immediately felt a rush of adrenaline pulse through his veins. Maybe he would finally be able to understand the purpose of this program code and maybe he could soon show that Bill was innocent.

Holding his breath, he pushed the last device into it’s designated spot and both men silently watched for whatever thing would happen.

However there was only one tiny LED that had switched from blue to red. Dipper deflated after a few minutes.

“Can I?” He reached for the keyboard and Stan made room for Dipper to sit down.

Dipper quickly checked the files.

“We need to manually combine them. There is an instruction hidden inside the code, but I think it will take me a few days to decipher it.”

Stan had only understood half of the parts that Dipper was telling him, but he nodded anyways.

“Ok, do whatever you have to. I’m glad that I have you here to support me.”

“Sure,” Dipper nodded and turned his attention back to the screen.

“Well, since I won’t be much of help, I will leave you to it, ok?”

Dipper nodded, already completely lost in the work ahead of him. He was looking forward to tell Bill about it. He was sure that Bill would be super excited about it, too. Maybe he could even tell him, that he would soon be able to activate the program and then they would be able to find Stanford.

Somewhere in the evening Stan came back into the basement and brought Dipper some food and another hot tea. Dipper gladly took it and stuffed the food hungrily into his mouth. During his work he had forgotten about everything, even about his injuries, which now started to painfully throb again.

“I think you should quit for today,” Stan cautiously proposed. Dipper would have loved to work through the night, but his body could only do so much. He needed to rest.

“Yeah, you are probably right.”

“This stuff here won’t run away. You can come down here whenever you want to.”

“Thank you.”

They both returned back into the shop and Stan locked the hidden door again with a code.

Since Dipper’s room was still a mess, Stan had prepared another room for him. Dipper was glad that he didn’t have to return to his room yet, he was a little afraid that all the memories would keep crashing back into his mind.

Dipper got ready for the night and when he pulled the blanket over his face, it was the first time, that he remembered that he had a phone and that he hadn’t even checked for new messages the whole day. Bill was probably worried sick by now.

Quickly he fished the device out of the backpack and checked for his messages.

Disappointed that there was no message from Bill he was about to turn the phone off again, but he decided against it and instead he was the one writing Bill.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: [dreamdemon@gold.com](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.com)

[ _You won’t believe it. Stan told me everything about his brother and he showed me a secret room at the basement of the shack._ _You remember the code I found? It’s the combination for unlocking a door hidden behind the vending machine._ _I have all three USB-_ _S_ _ticks now. I’m working on combining them, but it will take some time._

_Bill…thank you and_

_I miss you_ ]

Not even a minute later, Dipper had received a reply.

[ _Let’s talk tomorrow. I miss you too._ ]

Dipper pressed the phone to his chest and although he had trouble to find a sleeping position that did not make him grimace in pain, he still managed to fall asleep with a happy grin plastered all over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I hope everyone that is still reading this is aware that things are soon going to get rough? Yes? Don’t say I didn’t warn you! ;_;  
> The main question for me is, does Bill love Dipper a tiny bit or not at all. Because if he doesn’t, things will sure go to hell sooner or later and I don’t know if I could live with that.
> 
> Anyways thanks for your thoughts :)


	13. Chapter 13

The following days Dipper worked non-stop to combine the data from all three USB-Sticks. After the third day he was sure that he knew most of the passages by heart, however he still couldn’t quite figure out how he was supposed to align the data. After he had sat one hour in front of the screen unmoving, he gave up. It was time for a well deserved break.

Yawning Dipper dragged himself up the stairs and pushed the hidden door open, only to be greeted by Wendy, who gave him the most confused look ever.

“Fuck!” Dipper cursed inwardly. He had completely forgotten about her and he had also forgotten about the fact that the vending machine was situated in the middle of the Mystery Shack’s shop and therefore he should not walk in and out during operating hours.

“Wendy!” The brunet greeted her and tried to close the door as if this was the most normal thing to do.

“Hey Dipper! What’s up?”

Her carefree attitude irritated Dipper. Their last encounter hadn’t been a friendly one and Dipper was still not any wiser about her general motifs.

When Dipper was about to walk past her, she stopped him, but not in an aggressive way like last time.

“Can I speak with you after my shift?”

Actually Dipper didn’t want to speak with her, therefore he hesitated.

“Don’t worry, nothing serious. Let’s meet in front of the Shack around 18:30 ok?”

“Fine,” Dipper pursed his lips and removed his arm from Wendy’s touch.

Back in the safety of the kitchen, Dipper sighed. Just when he had thought that he got rid of all the strange people in his life, they continued to show up anyways.

While he chewed on some cereals he checked his phone. His last call with Bill had already been two days ago. Since then they had written each other a few times, but nothing worth mentioning. Bill had been very happy about the fact that they now had all three devices combined and he had encouraged Dipper in combining the data. Somehow Dipper had hoped that he would offer a little more help or share some of his own knowledge. Truth be told, Dipper was a little disappointed. Also he really wanted to see Bill again. Slowly Dipper was recovering from his injuries and he felt confident that he soon would be able to resume where they had stopped last time. The thought alone made Dipper’s cheeks heat up and while he remembered the feeling of Bill’s lips on his, his head started to spin. Dipper wondered if maybe it was his turn to ask Bill out. Maybe Bill was waiting for a sign from his side?

Dipper sighed, pushed the empty cereal bowl out of his way and leaned his head down onto the table. He was sure that Bill was much more interested in the outcome of Dipper’s programming skills than his kissing skills.

Suddenly the kitchen door swung open and his Grunkle walked in.

Dipper only looked up from his position for a brief second before he lowered his head down again.

“Still no success?”

“No,” Dipper mumbled into the wood.

“Can I help you?”

“No, but thank you.”

Out of the blue there was suddenly a hand resting on Dipper’s shoulder.

“If anyone can solve this, it would be you. Take your time and then you will find a solution. I’m sure of it.”

Not used to such a praise, Dipper laughed a little nervously.

“I’ll do my best.”

The hand on Dipper’s back was removed and next Dipper heard the fridge open and close and the sound of a can of beer being opened.

For a moment Dipper allowed himself to close his eyes. In his mind the programming code kept swirling around. He distantly remembered that he also still had some stuff to do for university and he postponed it for later in the night. University could wait, he had so much more to deal with right now.

It was much later, when Dipper suddenly awoke with a start. The first thing he realized was that his neck was stiff. He lifted himself up with a groan, while realizing that he had fallen asleep with his head on the kitchen table. Facepalming, he shook his head, wondering why Stan hadn’t woken him up.

With a slight shock Dipper realized that he had been supposed to meet Wendy 15 minutes ago. Quickly he run out of the kitchen and into the shop. Part of him hoped that she had already left, the other part was curious about what she wanted to tell him.

Soon Dipper spotted the red hair shining in the evening sun, leaning against the stake that stood in front of the Shack.

Slowly Dipper walked over and held up his hand.

“Sorry, I’m late. I dozed off.”

“No problem,” Wendy pushed herself off the wood.

“Let’s walk a little.”

Several alarm signals went on inside Dipper’s mind and his panic was written all over his face.

“We can also stay here, if you prefer it,” Wendy offered and Dipper nodded, his pulse slowly calming down again.

“So, what I want to tell you. First of all I owe you an apology.”

“What?” Dipper looked up with raised eyebrows.

“For last time. I’m sorry. You know, I’m not a real temp, actually my name is Wendy Corduroy and I’m working for Interpol.”

“What?!”

Wendy smiled and handed her identification badge to Dipper, who carefully inspected it, before he returned it.

“I was investigating several cases of cybercrime blackmailing. In the end I had two suspects. Either you or Gideon. I got this job in order to keep an eye on you, but then I changed tactics. I threatened you to see if you would hack into my phone in order to blackmail me, too. But it never happened and only a few days later suddenly the police received an anonymous message regarding Gideon’s company.”

Dipper listened intently. He felt a little proud that Interpol thought of him capable to be a criminal mastermind, but on the other hand he wondered how anyone could think he would ever blackmail anyone.

“Also after we looked into all the data from the Tent of Telepathy we saw that Gideon was actually trying to blackmail you too and he even, well...had send some men over to threaten you.”

Dipper froze, it was enough that Stan and Bill knew about what had happened. He didn’t want anyone else to look into this. He didn’t want the police to be involved in this. Under no circumstances would he go see a doctor to make them assess the severity of his injuries to file a case against Gideon, too.

Wendy seemed to know what Dipper was thinking and quickly reassured him.

“There won’t be any further investigation regarding this. We have enough proof to make sure that Gideon will never leave jail again. So, your name was cleared from the record.”

“Did Stan know?” Dipper enquired suddenly.

“No way! This was top secret!”

“Ok,” Dipper hesitated a moment. He felt the need to ask something about Ford and about Bill. If he told Wendy about the USB-Sticks maybe she could send some experts from her own department over, who could help him solve the mystery. Then again he was sure that Bill wouldn’t appreciate it to involve the police into this matter. Therefore Dipper decided to not mention any of it.

“However,” Wendy started to scratch her head, “I’m still assigned to continue to work here. So I would really appreciate it, if this will stay between us for now.”

Dipper suddenly felt nauseous. So they knew, he figured. Interpol knew that something was going on and they wanted to keep an eye on the Mystery Shack. Even worse, Dipper had already revealed the secret entrance to the basement. It would only be a matter of time, before Wendy had figured out the combination and then she would certainly confiscate the USB-Sticks. Dipper’s pulse started to race and he nearly missed it, when Wendy spoke up again.

“Well Dipper, once again I’m sorry for everything. Here, please take this,” she handed him her business card over.

“I owe you one. If you ever need help with something or if you are thinking of pursuing a career at Interpol just drop me a line,” she winked at him.

“Thanks,” Dipper took the card with shaking hands and studied it a little dumbfounded.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Dipper couldn’t stop cursing, even after Wendy had long been gone. He had made himself a tea to calm his nerves and now he was back in front of the computer down in the basement. It was crucial that he would solve the code as soon as possible. It was only a matter of time, before the police would come and break into the Shack. It was all Dipper’s fault.

His fingers flew over the keyboard with nearly inhuman speed and he felt a dull headache forming behind his temples, but he ignored it as best as he could. Although his little nap on the kitchen table had been far from comfortable, it had still managed to refresh him.

For how long Dipper had been lost in his own little world he couldn’t tell, only when suddenly an animation appeared on the screen seemingly out of nowhere, Dipper nearly jumped from his chair.

[ _Welcome friend! The_ _ **Portal**_ _will open in 45:00 Minutes...44:59, 44:58..._ ”]

And one line below:

[Delete?]

“What?” Dipper clicked on the screen, but whatever he tried to do, he could not stop the process anymore. The only available option was to click the “Delete?” button, but that was out of question. He wasn’t sure if this screen was actually a good thing or not, so he did the only thing that came to his mind.

When he tried to pull out his phone from his pocket, he nearly dropped it. Although it was 03:10 am in the middle of the night, Dipper immediately dialled Bill’s number.

He only heard the ringing tone two times, before the other picked up.

“Bill!” Dipper nearly screamed into the device.

“Hey kid, whoa, what’s the matter?”

“I...I don’t know. There is a countdown. It says the portal will open in now 40:32 minutes. I can not stop it. Was this supposed to happen?”

There was a long silence on the other end and Dipper was just about to add something else, in case Bill hadn’t understood, but then Bill spoke up again, his voice calm.

“It’s exactly what is supposed to happen. You did it Dipper. Good job. Stay right there, I will be with you as soon as possible.”

“But what about Stan?” Dipper asked, although he knew that the old man was probably sleeping and wouldn’t even notice if a bomb was dropping next to the Shack.

“Meet me in front of the shop.”

The line went dead again. For the longest time Dipper stared at the display, not sure what was happening right now. Then he looked back at the screen, where the time was counting down. It would be a lie if Dipper said he wasn’t excited, but he also was a little afraid. He had no idea what this ‘Portal’ was. If Stanford had staged his own death and made sure that no one would easily be able to restore the program it must be something really big and maybe even dangerous. Dipper wondered if he had been too naive when he had started working on this. Still his Grunkle had encouraged him too. In case it was really something malicious Dipper would just cut the power. In the end it was only a program and not a weapon.

[29:26]

When Dipper arrived back at the top of the stairs, he felt anxious. Not only because of the events taking place inside the basement but also towards the meeting with Bill. He wondered if things would change now that Dipper had solved the riddle. Would Bill lose interest in him? Had this episode on the couch back at Bill’s house only been an accident?

Fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, Dipper stood inside the shop and watched for Bill’s car.

Not much later Dipper spotted the headlights getting closer with every second. Obviously Bill had gone full speed to arrive in time and for once he didn’t park the car far away, but he stopped right in front of the Shack and sprung from the car.

Dipper flinched, when the car door fell shut and he prayed that Stan would still be fast asleep.

“Bill,” Dipper whispered and opened the shop-door for him.

“Hey Pine Tree,” the blond man winked at him, his whole body a little tense. Of course Dipper was disappointed that Bill wouldn’t show him any other form of affection. A chaste kiss, a hug or only the touch of his hand would have been enough. Dipper’ shoulders slumped down, still he politely showed Bill the way down into the basement.

When Bill saw the message on the screen his mismatched eyes went wide and his grin spread from ear to ear. In the blueish light of the computer it made Bill look even a little crazy and Dipper involuntarily stepped away from the other. The blond didn’t even realize, too observed by the message on the screen announcing the portal to open within the next 12:02 Minutes.

“Bill, do you know what exactly ‘The Portal’ is?”

Bill chuckled and his eyes shown with pride, when he turned to Dipper.

“The Portal will revolutionise the world. It’s like a Weirdmageddon.”

“A what?” Dipper felt even more confused and he was just about to ask something else, when he saw something move out of the corner of his eyes.

The next moment things started to happen way too fast. A man jumped at Bill out of nowhere, but Bill who had somehow anticipated this, had dodged the attack. The man crashed into Dipper and made him tumble to the ground.

“I will stop this madness!” The intruder yelled and stormed towards the computer, however Bill threw himself at the man and both started to wrestle.

Quickly Dipper scrambled back to his feet and out of the way. Standing with his back to the wall he watched in horror how both men tried to strangle each other.

Desperate to help Bill, Dipper scanned the room for something that he could use as a weapon, however he found none.

Then again, the world seemed to halt, when a voice suddenly called out.

“Stanford?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many things happening here!!  
> The portal is about to open!! And it seems that Stanford is back! :O  
> Sorry for the cliffhanger ;3


	14. Chapter 14

It seemed that all men inside the basement paused their actions for a moment when Stan’s booming voice echoed through the room.

“Stanford?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

Stanley was standing at the entrance, his eyes wide in wonder and shock at the same time.

The man, who was revealed to be Stan’s long-lost-twin, turned around to his brother, before he focused solely on Bill again. A happy reunion was obviously not on Stanford’s mind and for a brief moment, Dipper thought that Stanley looked a little hurt, being ignored like this by his own twin.

Now that Dipper had been able to take a closer look at Ford, he had to admit that the twins indeed looked very much alike, only that Ford was in a better shape than Stan and therefore appeared to be younger. He was wearing a tan coat, a red turtleneck and black pants with large brown boots.

Right now Ford’s hands were wrestling with Bill, who vehemently tried to stop Ford from reaching the keyboard.

“Stanley help me! We have to stop this madness!”

Ford started to sweat, obviously Bill was the stronger one among both of them. Dipper already expected Stan to step forward and help his brother, but when Dipper looked again, Stan had crossed his arms in front of his chest, not going anywhere.

“Ohh, I get it. When it comes to physical problems I’m good enough to be of any kind of help. You know Ford, a little ‘hello, I’m back. How are you doing?’ wouldn’t have hurt, would it?”

Dipper’s mouth fell open and he looked from Stan to Ford and back again.

“That’s not important right now!!! You idiot!” Ford yelled a little out of breath.

“Oh, now I’m the stupid brother again, thank you very much.”

Ford looked incredulous, while Bill kept on smiling.

Stanley however couldn’t hold back all the anger and frustration he had felt over the last years.

“I thought you died back then! You left me just like that, never sending a single word to ease the pain! Not even a card, that would tell me you are ok and you will return one day! Absolutely nothing! And now you dance back in here and expect me to forgive and forget?!”

The time behind Bill announced that only 04:53 Minutes remained before the portal would open.

“Stanley!” Ford panted, before he got pinned to the ground by Bill.

“Hello Sixer, did you miss me?” Bill purred in a voice that sounded foreign to Dipper.

“I knew it was you when I received the message that someone had plugged all the USB-Sticks in. My instinct didn’t fail and it seems I arrived just in time.”

“Thanks for the praise. However you should thank someone else, I had nothing to do with the activation of the Portal, how could I, when you left your dear brother to make sure that I would have no chance to get hold of any of the USB-Sticks.”

Fords eyes scanned the room and landed on Dipper, who suddenly felt the urge to hide somewhere. The look Ford gave him sent goosebumps down his spine, it was pure loathing.

“I understand,” Ford spat and with a well aimed kick, he managed to get Bill off of him. Since Ford didn’t receive any backup from any of the other men inside the room, he made a few steps backwards.

**[03:22]**

“Well then,” Ford smiled and reached into one of the pockets of his long coat. Suddenly he held up a gun and pointed it directly at Bill.

“Now, will you please be so kind and let me pass.”

Bill’s eyes narrowed and he was just about to make a step to the side, when Dipper unexpectedly sprung in front of him, arms wide.

“Are you mad?!” Dipper yelled, not sure where his courage was actually coming from.

“Get out of my way!”

“Dipper!” Stan called out from behind Ford, suddenly deciding that it was time to get involved in this too.

“No!” The brunet defiantly lifted his chin to underline his point.

“You have no idea how dangerous this man behind you is!”

Dipper heard Bill chuckle behind him.

“So you found yourself a new toy? Didn’t you Bill? You seem to prefer them young and nerdy.” Ford ignored the youth standing in front of him, and kept on talking to Bill.

“Stanford, please lower the gun. That kid is Dipper, I mean Mason Pines, he’s your family!” Stanley tried to take the gun from Ford, but the other stepped out of reach.

“Dipper?”

It seemed that the name did ring a bell, however Ford was nevertheless determined to shoot if he had to, regardless who stood in front of him.

Ford seemed to consider something, before he spoke up again and instead of Bill he was now addressing Dipper.

“Dipper, did you know that I was Bill’s lover for some time?”

Now this was a bomb to drop and Dipper’s eyes went wide, however he quickly recovered from the blow and straightened his back.

“We had been partners not only inside the company, but also in bed.”

“So what?” Dipper’s voice was full of disdain. Jealousy started to take his body over and Dipper struggled to keep his cool.

“I was just as blind as you are now, but Dipper, Bill used me and he will use you!”

**[02:43]**

“He told me he loved me, but he never did. The only thing important for him was ‘The Portal’ and he fooled us all!”

“You are just bitter!” Dipper replied, although with a sour taste in his mouth. The blond man behind him kept silent and Dipper would have given a lot to see his face. Was it true that Bill had used Ford or had it been the other way around? Was Bill using him as well? Dipper felt conflicted. Although he only knew Stanford for a few minutes now, his determination impressed Dipper. Also if Ford was really going to kill someone in order to stop a program from activating this must mean something important. A program could be rewritten, but a person could never be simply revived.

“Am I?” Stanford shook his head, “However I have to stop this at all costs, even if it means to kill you and him.”

“Stanford!” Stanley barked at his brother.

“Do something reasonable for once and don’t get into my way Stanley.” Ford sighed. There seemed to be a pain he was carrying for way too long that tried to resurface and Ford struggled to keep it down.

“No, you are going too far!” Stanley now stepped in front of Dipper, shielding him from the gun.

Dipper was too shocked to move, only when he heard Bill’s laughter behind him, he dared to turn around.

“Sixer! This is hilarious! See, you even managed to turn your family against you!”

**[01:45]**

“Stanley!!” Ford yelled and jumped at his brother, who also held up his arms in defence. They both crashed into each other and Dipper had to jump to the side in order to avoid getting hit.

Soon the gun fell to the ground and slid out of reach. Dipper craned his neck to see where it went, but in order to reach it he would have had to pass the two raging men in front of him.

“You are always only thinking of yourself!”

“That’s coming from the right one!”

The brunet started in horror at the scene unfolding in front of him. Only with a lot of effort he managed to tear his eyes away and then he looked at Bill.

The sight actually made Dipper freeze. The way Bill was looking at the countdown scared the shit out of Dipper. Bill’s features were distorted and his eyes had something predatory. Dipper was sure if Bill would look at him now, Dipper would die on the spot.

Then again Dipper realized that his own back was actually pressing against the desk with the keyboard on it. Slowly he turned around and checked the countdown.

**[00:59]**

“Shit!” Dipper cursed and turned around, looking at the screen and contemplating his options. He could stop the portal. Right now he was the only one to do so. Sure as hell Bill would hate him if he did. Then again Dipper felt a pang in his chest, when he thought about Stanford’s words and that Bill conveniently had omitted the fact that he had been sleeping with Ford.

Dipper balled his hands into fists. If Bill had only needed him until Dipper had activated the Portal, then this relationship would be over anyways. Bill would drop him if he deleted the program as well as if he let it activate itself. Realistically Dipper had nothing to lose. Obviously it meant everything to Stanford that he would go so far and even start a fight with his twin.

Slowly Dipper’s hand moved towards the mouse and it was only when the cursor on the screen started to move, that suddenly the room went silent again and all eyes were now on Dipper’s back.

“Yes! Dipper! Delete it, delete it!!” Ford screamed, while he was still trying to dodge a blow from Stanley.

Bill on the other hand was not able to reach Dipper, since they were separated by the fighting brothers.

“Dipper,” Bill said calmly, his eyes pleading.

The brunet was torn and he had only 15 seconds left for his decision.

“Here goes nothing,” he sighed and hovered with the cursor over the “Delete?” button.

“NOO!”

“YES!”

Everyone was screaming at the same time and Dipper clicked on the button and closed his eyes. A second later he dared to open them again and another message had popped up.

**[Are you sure?]**

**[Yes] [No]**

**[00:05]**

“What the fuck?!” Dipper cussed and he quickly clicked on “Yes”.

**[00:01]**

**[Initiating Deletion: 1%, 30%, 75%…]**

**[100%]**

All screens went black and for a very long time the only sound that Dipper could hear was his heartbeat hammering inside his ear.

“YES!!” Ford suddenly burst out, effectively disturbing the silence and making Dipper jump.

“Dipper! You did it! You have no idea how important this was!”

Ford run over to Dipper and hugged him. Dipper, who felt a lot more like throwing up than like celebrating, endured it. He had no strength left to shrug the other man off. Dipper felt tears sting at the corner of his eyes and he didn’t dare to look up at Bill. He had lost him for sure. He had lost him forever, although he had wanted to be there for him. Forever. Dipper felt like shit and it didn’t help that the man in front of him was praising him without end.

Stanley also didn’t look like he had won anything. He ruffled his hair and avoided to meet Dipper’s eyes.

“Finally I’m free of this curse!” Ford cheered, until a cold voice interrupted him.

“Sorry, but since the party is over, I will have to excuse myself.”

Bill’s tone was sharp and he turned around and walked towards the stairs.

“Pine Tree!” He suddenly called over his shoulder.

The sound of his nickname made the brunet jump. His eyes were wide with shock and he stared at Bill’s back, not knowing what to do or to say.

“Are you coming or not?” Bill turned around, his voice now a little softer and there was a friendly smile on his face.

Dipper couldn’t help it, but he instantly felt a pull towards the other. As if Bill was talking to another Dipper in the room, Dipper turned around to check that there really was no one else, that Bill could mean.

Dipper could hardly believe how lucky he was, that Bill was not only still talking to him, but also asking him to keep him company. This wouldn’t be the case if he had only used Dipper up until now, would it?

Dipper’s brain started to reason with him, but the only part Dipper was able to listen to right now was his heart.

“Ehm, yeah,” he said and hastily followed Bill outside of the room under the stares of Stanford and Stanley. While Ford gave him a look of disbelief, the other looked rather worried.

“Dipper!” Stanley called out to him and Dipper turned around.

“Don’t worry Grunkle Stan. I’ll be fine. I trust Bill.”

And then he walked after the blond and without asking, he got into the car next to Bill and they both drove into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for confusing everyone, I guess this chapter was probably even worse?  
> Well, next one there will be some explanation. Things will make sense then, or so I hope :D!  
> No Portal was opened...no Weirdmageddon yet.  
> Ford and Bill were once dating...I have never shipped them before, although I think it makes sense in a way ^^°


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning:  
> Sexual Content!
> 
> Yes, we made it to the smut part, but don't skip just now! There is some important stuff at the beginning!

The drive back to Bill’s house was the longest one in Dipper’s entire life. He hadn’t dared to speak up first and since Bill also kept quiet they sat together in silence, watching the night pass outside the windows.

Dipper didn’t know how he should feel. Technically he had just betrayed his best friend, his only friend to be precise and Dipper’s only love interest for the time being.

Then there was the thing about Stanford, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and who had not only been Bill’s partner at work but their relationship had been much more intimate.

The third thing Dipper couldn’t help but wonder about was ‘The Portal’. If Bill had told him before what the program was about, maybe he would have decided differently back in the basement of the Shack. In general Dipper felt a little betrayed about the fact that Bill had purposefully omitted information. One part of Dipper hoped that Bill had done it in order to protect Dipper’s feelings, the other part was sure that Bill had lied on purpose, to get closer to Dipper.

Still, in the end Bill had asked him to come with him, although Dipper had just deleted all the data about ‘The Portal’. Maybe Dipper would finally receive the answers to all the open questions that were burning inside him.

After the frontdoor had closed Bill walked straight up into the kitchen and prepared a drink for himself. He gulped the content down in one swing and then he poured himself the next one. Cautiously Dipper approached the other and stopped in front of the bar table that was separating the kitchen unit from the living room.

Bill continued to drink and since Dipper didn’t know what else to do, he sat down in one of the chairs, silently waiting for whatever would happen next.

After the fifth drink Bill set the glass back down with a clank and raked his hands through his hair.

“Ok kid, I think I’m better now.”

Dipper gave him a little smile, but he still avoided to look Bill into his eyes.

“Was a tough night wasn’t it?” Bill asked in a friendly way and leaned on the table, making Dipper look up into his face.

“Hmhm,” Dipper agreed and looked to the side.

“Kid, I know you have a million questions and I think it’s time for you to know the truth, so shoot.”

Bill walked around the table, taking the glass and the bottle with him and he sat down on the couch. He patted the spot next to him and invited Dipper to join him.

The brunet hesitated, but he couldn’t resist Bill’s charm.

“Ok, so what’s ‘The Portal’?”

“Brilliant question,” Bill leaned back into the cushions and crossed his legs.

“You know about the ‘World Wide Web’ and ‘The Darknet’, but ‘The Portal’ is different! The Portal is a new network that will be superior to all other network forms. The portal does not know any boundaries and will be able to access all other networks without the hindrance of bypassing firewalls, passwords or other security measure. It’s damn brilliant and will revolutionise everything!”

“Is this really possible? You mean this would be like an all access device? So for example if I want to log into your bank account,...I could just do it?” Dipper’s eyes had become wide. He had expected a lot, but definitely not this.

“Of course! That would be no problem at all. I can say a lot of bad things about Ford, but he sure is a genius, as am I of course.”

“But…if you can access all data, and I mean ALL of it, this is a really dangerous tool!”

“Yes and no.”

Bill weighed his head on his shoulders and tapped his lips with his index finger.

“Let’s say I put a gun on the table and you pick it up. Would you go out and shoot someone?”

“No!” Dipper was appalled by the thought.

“See? A gun is neither bad nor good by itself. If you take the gun and won’t use it in a dangerous way, then it’s not a weapon, it’s only a tool. It will only become dangerous if the wrong person with a malicious intent will pick it up.”

Dipper tried to follow Bill’s trail of thinking and he could see his point, however he wouldn’t yet agree to it wholeheartedly.

“But if you put a gun on the ground, you will never know who is going to use it. Anyone can pick it up.”

“Right! My plan was to sell The Portal to the highest bidder. Everything else would then be entirely in their hands.”

“The highest bidder?? But Bill that could be anyone...”

“Nah, it would be either China, Russia or the USA and I would have been the richest man on earth!”

Bill smiled and looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression on his face.

“I think it’s too dangerous.” Dipper stated.

“Yeah it is dangerous!” Bill agreed and he leaned forward again.

“Every weapon is dangerous, still they exist and people are allowed to go out there and buy them! But is the one who invented a gun really at fault here? He had a good idea, but people turned it into a bad one. The responsibility should not be with the inventor but with the people using his creation!”

Dipper sighed and folded his hands in his lap, when Bill spoke up again.

“Ford also thinks it’s too dangerous, but I think the world needs to see some chaos in order to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. It might create a better world even, who knows!”

“Yeah, it might, but what will you do if it doesn’t?”

“Nothing,” Bill shrugged, “I will buy myself an island and then I will stop caring about the rest of the world, except...,” Bill paused and his eyes focused back on Dipper, who started to awkwardly shift on the couch.

“Except?” Dipper couldn’t help but repeat.

“Except I would still care for you.”

“Oh,” was the only response that came to Dipper’s mind and suddenly Bill’s hand reached over and caressed Dipper’s cheek.

It made Dipper instantly blush, but not in a bad way.

“But I deleted the code for The Portal...” Dipper was on the verge of crying.

“Shhh, Pine Tree, we will talk about this later.”

As if in slow motion Bill’s face drew closer until their lips met. Dipper could smell the alcohol on Bill’s breath and it made his heart start to race. It was only a chaste kiss, before Bill pulled back again, his voice a little hoarse.

“You think you are ready to pick up where we last stopped?”

Dipper felt his mouth getting dry and his cheeks heated up. Actually he wasn’t sure if he was ready for this. Although he had enjoyed the last time very much, Dipper had also researched a little on this topic and he was terribly afraid of doing something wrong or not liking it in the end. Also he would want to give something back to Bill, only he lacked the experience.

It seemed that his inner battle was openly playing out on his face, because Bill suddenly stood up. Dipper was sure that Bill would sent him home now, however he only held out his hand for Dipper.

“Come,” he invited and Dipper tentatively reached out for it.

Bill lead Dipper up the stairs and opened the bedroom door for him.

“Don’t worry. It’s up to you how far you want to go. If you prefer it we can just fall asleep together.”

Everything about the way Bill treated Dipper, made him love the man even more and it made Dipper wonder how on earth he deserved such a person in his life.

Nodding in acknowledgement Dipper followed Bill inside.

As everything else inside the house, the room was spacious and the interior design was modern. All the furnitures and even the wallpaper were black, which gave the room an eerie atmosphere. The only spot of colour was the yellow silk bed linen.

Before Dipper could observe anything else, he heard a rustle of fabric behind him, which made him turn around.

Bill had removed his shirt and was now standing topless in front of the brunet, who could only stare with longing.

The other man seemed to have hoped for this kind of reaction and he slid his arms around Dipper’s waist and pulled him in for a kiss. This time Bill took his time and traced every corner of Dipper’s mouth, before he softly pushed inside.

Dipper who felt his knees turn into jelly, raised his arms up for support and placed his hands on Bill’s back. Immediately Dipper felt a burning sensation run through his fingertips and he slowly run his hands up and down Bill’s spine.

Bill responded with a hungry growl and he pulled Dipper even closer to his body and started to slide his hands under Dipper’s shirt.

While their tongues kept on playing with each other, Dipper felt more confident with every minute. He even broke the kiss for a second in order to remove his own shirt and tossed it on the ground. When they resumed the kiss and Dipper leaned closer into Bill, their bare chests met skin on skin and it was like some kind of electricity had passed between them. Bill’s hands seemed to explorer every inch of Dipper’s body and while they first only run over his back, they were now stroking his chest and one finger innocently brushed a nipple, which made Dipper gasp. Not missing any of Dipper’s reactions, Bill started to circle around Dipper’s hard buds teasingly.

A moan escaped Dipper and his head fell backwards, his eyes closed.

Carefully Bill manoeuvred Dipper backwards, until he suddenly hit the back of the bed. The blond man gave him a little push and Dipper fell onto the mattress with a yelp.

Before he could protest Bill was already over him on all fours, his eyes had something predatory in it. The blond man leaned down and started to lick down Dipper’s neck, which instantly made Dipper lift his hips. It was the first time that Dipper realized that he was already painfully hard and he needed some kind of friction. At the same time he felt a little embarrassed, but when Bill also leaned down with his hips, Dipper could feel that Bill was just as aroused as he was.

Meanwhile Bill had reached Dipper’s nipples with his mouth and he began to lick them. The combination of Bill’s hot tongue followed by the cooling saliva, was a sensation too good to be true. One of Dipper’s hands was buried in Bill’s hair, signalling him, that he was free to continue the penetration.

Simultaneously Bill’s hands were unzipping Dipper’s pants and soon all the fabric was unceremoniously yanked down. Since Dipper was already close to loosing his mind, he didn’t see it coming, when all of a sudden a warm hand was closing around his length.

“Ah!” Dipper breathed and couldn’t stop his body from lifting his hips upwards.

When the hand around his shaft moved up and down, Dipper felt the first drops of pre-cum forming on his tip.

Suddenly Dipper felt Bill’s lips pressing against his again and he immediately opened up for him and they exchanged shameless kisses, while Bill’s hands resumed the penetration of Dipper’s lengths with constant slow strokes.

Suddenly however Bill stopped the kiss and his hand was removed as well. With a shock Dipper’s eyes flew open, only to find Bill strapping off his pants and leaning over to his night stand in order to pick up a bottle of lube.

Of course Dipper had a vague idea about what was about to happen, but when he tried to imagine it, his body started to feel tense and anxious. Bill coated his hands thoroughly with the sticky liquid and after he had heated it up between his hands he spread one part over Dipper’s erection and much to Dipper’s surprise Bill’s other hand was reaching around and started to massage his own backside. Somehow Dipper had always expected things to happen the other way around, but he felt a little relieved at the same time.

Soon Bill positioned himself again on top of Dipper.

“Is this ok for you like this?” Dipper couldn’t help but ask. Bill gave him kiss and purred into his ear.

“This is to show you what I’m going to do with you next time.”

Dipper gasped, when he suddenly felt Bill lowering his body down on his and when Dipper felt himself pushing against Bill’s slick entrance it was nearly too much to handle for him.

At the same time Bill had resumed to kiss Dipper’s neck, which helped him to compose himself again, however the moment Bill’s body had fully taken Dipper in, it was hard for Dipper to hold back.

Bill lifted his upper body up again and Dipper watched him slowly starting to move up and down, which effectively sent shivers down Dipper’s spine. The brunet then put both his hands on Bill’s hips not sure, if he should take over and set the rhythm.

With each thrust into Bill, Dipper felt himself more and more losing control. The speed was nice, but teasing at the same time. Dipper’s body screamed for release and his hips involuntarily pushed upwards a little more forcefully than Dipper had meant it, still it was exactly the feeling he needed right now.

“Ah, Ah,” Bill chided, “are we a little greedy already?”

“Bill, I...I can’t take much more. I need to come,” Dipper pressed out between moans of pleasure.

“Well then, don’t hold back.” Bill leaned forwards again and whispered into Dipper’s ear, which worked like a charm and Dipper stopped restraining himself.

Even if he wanted to be considerate towards Bill he couldn’t. His hips were pushing up on their own and he slammed his hard lengths deep into Bill over and over again.

The fact that Bill was now also moaning into Dipper’s ear made things even worse, and Dipper pace became even faster, until both men were panting in unison.

“Bill!!” Dipper cried out when he came and at the same time he heard Bill also scream out in pleasure. He distantly noticed hot liquid getting spilled over his stomach, but Dipper was too far gone to care.


	16. Chapter 16

For Dipper the next morning felt unreal and his head was heavy from a dreamless sleep. However when he finally was awake enough to remember all of last nights events, he sat up straight.

“Shit!” He cursed and his head flipped around to the other side of the bed. Dipper was relieved and sad at the same time to find it empty. Still it gave Dipper some time to sort out his feelings. Slowly he got up and walked into the bathroom, where he gave himself a glance over.

According to the reflection in the mirror he looked much like himself, but Dipper felt so much different from the Dipper he had been the night before. Around his collarbone Dipper suddenly spotted some hickies, which made him immediately blush again. Actually Dipper had enjoyed the sex with Bill a lot more than all the other times he had had with women. Everything had happened in perfect harmony and Dipper felt another wave of warm feelings flood through his veins.

Then again Dipper’s shoulders slumped, when he remembered all the other events from the last evening about Stanford and the portal.

This was still another topic he would have to discuss with Bill today and Dipper was so not looking forward to this conversation.

He wondered if Bill was actually at home or if he had left already. Dipper felt unsure how he should behave, since he was at Bill’s house and it didn’t feel like he should act as if he was at home. Still, Dipper needed badly to take a shower. Since he was naked already, Dipper shrugged and stepped inside shower cabinet. The hot water on his sore muscles was more than welcome and Dipper felt his body and his mind relax. Afterwards however Dipper had no choice but to wear the same clothes from last night again. It couldn’t be helped and finally Dipper walked down into the kitchen, where he spotted a cheerful looking Bill sitting on the couch with a coffee mug in his hand.

“Good morning Pine Tree!” The blond’s voice sounded particularly husky this morning, which made Dipper already feel horny again. Quickly he shoved these thoughts from his mind.

“Morning,” he greeted and only a second later Bill was about to get up.

“Can I make you some breakfast?”

Dipper wanted to protest, but Bill was already behind the counter of the kitchen.

“What would you like? Some tea and…?”

“Tea yeah and, whatever you have. Don’t trouble yourself on my account.”

“Kid, this is no trouble at all. So what is it what you usually have for breakfast?”

“Cereals with milk,” Dipper replied a little timidly.

“Ok, what kind, I have this or this?” Bill held two options up and Dipper pointed at one of them. Bill filled a bowl with milk and handed it to Dipper along with the cereals.

“Thanks,” Dipper smiled and sat down on the barstool.

A moment later Bill also put a cup of tea on the table and then he walked over to the couch again, giving Dipper some privacy to eat.

Although Dipper wanted to say a lot of things, for now he enjoyed his food that Bill had provided him with. Once again he wondered how he deserved such a kind person like Bill in his life.

When Dipper was finished eating he put the bowl into the dishwasher and he walked over to Bill, who immediately patted the spot next to him, inviting Dipper to sit down.

“You took a shower?” Bill observed after Dipper had joined him on the couch.

“Yeah, well, but I had no fresh clothes,” Dipper apologised.

“No problem at all,” Bill purred and he let one of his fingers run over Dipper’s chest, “I have a lot of good memories connected to these.”

Dipper swallowed hard, he was no match for Bill’s charm.

“Bill, I…,” Dipper helplessly started.

“Yes, dear?”

With a lot of effort Dipper grabbed Bill’s hand and held it in his.

“I am sorry that I deleted the Portal last night.”

Bill sighed and leaned back.

“Yeah well, it can’t be helped and I guess I deserved it a little. If I had told you about the Portal and Ford from the beginning, you might have acted differently.”

“No! It’s not your fault! I was just,...I think I was scared and well, maybe even a little jealous.”

“Jealous, huh?” Bill reached out and caressed Dipper’s cheek, making the brunet look up to him.

“No need for that. It’s true that I wanted to see Ford again, but not for that reason. This was on a business level only. The only important thing now is you.”

Dipper’s heart jumped in his chest.

“Well,” Dipper begun and his eyes looked down at his own hands once again, “if the Portal does still matter, I might be able to rewrite the program. I know the code by heart, so….if you give me a little time, I could do it.”

This was something Dipper had been thinking about the whole morning. He could have let Bill believe that the Portal was truly lost, however Dipper couldn’t lie to him. If the Portal was important to Bill, it was important to Dipper, too.

“You really are a genius, Pine Tree! But I can’t ask this of you. You deleted it, it’s gone.”

“I mean it! Now that I know what’s it about, it’s different. I trust you Bill!”

There was a complicated emotion shown on Bill’s face, but then it changed into a broad smile.

“I don’t think that Ford will much appreciate it, if you rewrite his program right under his nose.”

“Oh, you are right. I didn’t think about that.”

Dipper’s shoulders slumped with disappointment.

“Well then, if you want to, you can live here? I have enough room.”

“What?”

Bill softly took Dipper’s chin and made him meet his eyes.

“Also there are so many things I want to do with you, would be a waste if you lived so very far away from me.”

The brunet felt close to fainting and his mouth opened and closed a few times helplessly, before Bill let go of him again.

“Are you serious? I can move in?”

“Sure kid, why not?”

“When?”

“Today?” Bill shrugged.

“Bill!” Dipper suddenly burst out and hugged the other.

“I’m so happy!!”

Bill put his arms around Dipper, too and caressed his back.

“That’s good. So whenever you are ready I can give you a ride back to the Shack.”

“Ok, then, let’s go right now!”

Since Dipper wasn’t sure how Ford and Stan would react if Dipper showed up with Bill at the Shack he had asked him to drop him a few meters before and he had walked the rest.

Whatever Dipper had expected to find when entering the house, it was certainly not the scene unfolding in front of him now.

He had heard the screaming already when he had unlocked the frontdoor, but now that he was standing at the entrance of the living room he could hardly believe his eyes.

The two brothers had wrecked the interior and were still fighting, yelling accusations at each other without end.

It was hard for Dipper to interrupt, but finally he coughed a few times and indeed both men stopped dead.

“Dipper!!” Stan cried out, run over to the young man and hugged him tightly.

Dipper couldn’t help and it and he hugged him back. Even if his Grunkle was a little grumpy, he was still good at heart.

“Dipper! I was so worried! It’s so good to see you! Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

Stan let go of Dipper and started to inspect him from top to bottom. Dipper, who didn’t want him to see the hickies, quickly made a step backwards.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, but what about you? What has happened here?”

“It was his fault!” Ford answered from the back of the room. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

Stan was just about to reply, when Dipper cut him off.

“Whatever, I’m just here to get my things. I will move out today.”

“What?” Stan and Ford asked in unison.

“Oh Dipper, I’m sorry. You must be terrified by everything that had happened. It’s only understandable if you want to go back to your parents.”

Stan offered and patted Dipper on his shoulder.

“Not quite,….I’m gonna live with Bill.”

The last part Dipper nearly whispered, his eyes glued to the floor.

“No!” Stan groaned and was about to say something else, before his brother stopped him.

“It’s his decision.”

The twins exchanged glances and whatever they were telling each other, Dipper didn’t understand, but as long as he was free to live with Bill he wouldn’t mind.

“Ok, then, I will just go and grab my stuff. I’m not out of the world. I’m still in Gravity Falls.”

Stan only nodded silently and let Dipper walk up the stairs.

Back in his room, Dipper pulled out his travel bags and started to fill them with his clothes first and then with all his technical equipment. Since he didn’t own a lot of things Dipper was soon finished and was just about to go to the bathroom, for the last few items, when suddenly Ford was standing at the door.

“Hey Dipper, can I have a word with you?”

Dipper immediately felt weary of his presence, but agreed anyways.

“Sure.”

“First of all I am sorry about our first meeting. I might have said a few things that haven’t been very nice. You are actually a very bright kid and probably one of the very few people on this planet that were able to solve the riddle I left behind. That was pretty impressive.”

Dipper listened, but didn’t feel proud at all, at least not when Ford was praising him.

“Look, I understand that you must hate me. But before you go back to Bill, I want to show you something.”

“Why?” Dipper asked defiantly.

“I want you to know both sides of the story.”

This was actually something Dipper couldn’t say no to and he walked over to Ford.

“Fine, show me.”

The old man lead Dipper through the corridor until he started to fumble at some bolts inside the wall, when all of a sudden a hidden door sprung open.

“After you,” Ford held out a hand and waved Dipper inside.

First the room was pitch black, but when Ford had closed the door again, suddenly the light switched on and Dipper could hardly believe what he was seeing.

The room was full of pictures of Bill, sometimes with Ford, too, but mostly it was Bill, only a younger version of the man he was today.

The whole room looked like a shrine created for a god.

“Yeah, I know what you think and it’s true. I was obsessed with him and not in a good way.”

In some of the pictures Bill and Ford were kissing and Dipper quickly looked away, while he felt the bile in his throat.

“This room is special not only because of the pictures, but also because this is the one room in which no digital signal can go in nor out. So we can talk freely in here, because any bugging device or tracking isn’t working in here.”

“Huh, how is this possible?”

“The room is covered in so called ‘Unicorn hair’ it’s a special kind of wire that I invented in order to shield myself from unfriendly eyes.”

Ford chuckled a little and Dipper realized that there was indeed a fine line between genius and insanity.

“I met Bill on an exhibition. Back then me and my friend Fiddleford we had only just started our start-up business and I was trying to find some investors. We were creating a security program and Bill seemed to be very interested. He was a genius and he was rich. He invested into our company and became a shareholder as well as a partner. His ideas were ingenious and I felt understood on a whole new level. Soon we also started a relationship and we began coding a program together for fun and called it ‘The Portal’. We had a vision to revolutionise the world and I really believed in it. However my friend Fiddleford he never liked Bill and he had tried to warn me several times...until one night, he asked me to meet him.”

Ford made a pause and Dipper was nearly holding his breath.

“He never showed up to this meeting and was missing for several weeks. Then one day he was in front of the company, all beaten up, filthy and drugged. I took him to the hospital, but the damage on his brain had been too severe. He didn’t remember anything anymore, not his name nothing.”

It was obvious that the memories pained Ford immensely.

“This was such a shock, that for the first time I stopped working on the Portal and I stopped seeing Bill, I needed some time for myself. Also I wanted to know what Fiddleford wanted to tell me back then. It felt like this was the most important thing in the world and although Bill tried to play it down, I couldn’t let go.”

Every time Ford mentioned Bill, it made Dipper flinch, but he tried his best not to create any further mental images of Bill and Ford making out.

“You know, I soon found out through the police that Fiddleford’s apartment got robbed and his PC and laptop had vanished and I remembered that there had always been a shared folder that only we both had used. I had never told Bill about this, because it hadn’t seemed important, but one night, I opened the file and found Fiddleford’s last words.”

Ford suddenly turned around and his eyes were fixed on Dipper’s, who nearly jumped backwards.

“In the text Fiddleford told me what the Portal really was and that he knew that Bill’s money had come from his relationship with the cyber mafia. They had funded him in this project and some of the codes he had provided had actually been from other hackers in the Darknet!”

Dipper had to lean against the desk behind him to digest the new information.

“They had also been the one’s torturing Fiddleford, all under Bill’s command! I didn’t believe it at first, but the more I investigated, the more I had to see the truth and that Bill had only used me.”

Ford’s hands were balled into fists and there was an angry expression on his face.

“I was the only one able to stop him. I encrypted the data and split it on three USB-Sticks, which I hid. Then I staged my own death so that Bill would never go looking for me and asked my brother to take my place instead.”

Finally Ford became calmer again.

“I went to Russia first and lived without any technology for many year to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to trace my steps. Then I lived in Europe for some years. The only device I had was a beeper that would warn me as soon as all three USB-Sticks would have been combined.”

Dipper knew about the rest and he only nodded.

“But if the Portal was so dangerous, why didn’t you just delete it back then?”

Ford sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“I was too proud to do it and also a little sentimental. You know, like a girl keeping all the presents from her lover and treasuring it after the breakup. Of course you are right, I should have destroyed it back then and I regretted it some years later already.”

“And what about Stanley?” Dipper wondered all of a sudden.

“Ah that,” Ford smiled, “don’t mind us. We are only happy when we are fighting. We really do love each other even if it does not look like it.”

Dipper thought about it for a while, until Ford spoke up again.

“Dipper I know that Bill can be very persuasive and he will be an angel as long as you are important to him, but as soon as you are not helpful anymore, he will become a demon! I know I can’t stop you from going back to him, but please Dipper be careful! Don’t trust him blindly! And if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to ask for it. Stan and I, we are always here for you.”

Dipper nodded. He didn’t know how he should be feeling right now. The only thing he wanted to was curl up inside Bill arms pretending he had never heard any of Ford’s words.

Eventually he had packed up all his belongings and said Stan and Ford goodbye. He then got into his car and drove back to Bill with a lot of questions running through his mind.


	17. Chapter 17

Back at Bill’s house Dipper opened the front-door with the key that Bill had given to him. He felt a little proud while doing so and when he entered the living room he was greeted by Bill who came running over to him and hugged him tightly.

“Pine Tree!” He welcomed the brunet and buried his face in Dipper’s hair.

“Hey Bill, what’s wrong?”

Bill pulled back a little and removed a stray hair from Dipper’s face affectionately.

“I was a little afraid that you would not return at all.”

Dipper’s eyes went wide in shock, but he understood and pulled Bill closer again.

“Don’t worry. I’m here now and I don’t intend to leave you any time soon.”

The next moment Bill’s lips were on Dipper’s and he gave him a sensual kiss full of promises.

“Kid, you’re really special and therefore I would offer to cook some dinner for us tonight.”

“You can cook?” Dipper laughed and put his travel bags out of the way.

“Sure I can.” Bill winked at him and walked over to the kitchen.

Dipper was content enough to just watch Bill prepare some meal. He himself wasn’t very good at cooking, however when it came to baking Dipper had learned a lot of good recipes from his sister.

In the end both men sat together at the dining table with a vegetable lasagne that smelled like heaven.

“Wow, that tastes amazing!! Where did you learn to cook like this?” Dipper inquired after he had his first spoonful.

“Sorry, that is a well kept family secret.”

“Too bad,” Dipper laughed and continued to shovel the lasagne into his mouth. Bill was full of surprises and for a moment Dipper felt content enough to just sit and eat and not to think about all the things that Ford had told him about Bill. Too soon they had both finished and while Bill was also cleaning up the dishes again, Dipper quarrelled with himself if he should ask Bill about his connection to the Mafia.

However Bill was ahead of him, when he sat down opposite Dipper and started the discussion himself.

“So, did Ford speak with you?”

Dipper nodded, casting his eyes downwards.

“Did he tell you that I had connections to the Cyber Mafia?”

Again Dipper nodded, his heart feeling heavy inside his chest.

Bill only chuckled and shook his head.

“Well, that’s his version. However that’s not what happened.”

Quickly Dipper’s head snapped upwards again, eyes fixed on Bill.

“Huh?”

“Actually it was the other way around. We were both working on the Portal, but at some point Ford got stuck. He didn’t want to ask me for help, because he never wanted to show me that he might be inferior. Therefore he reached out for help in the Darknet. Soon enough people got very interested in what he was doing and one person offered to help in exchange for further insights.”

Bill sighed and ruffled his hair.

“And then things started to get ugly. Suddenly random people started showing up in front of our company and they made offers to buy the whole company. They chased after me and Fiddleford, too. Of course we always declined their offers, although I have to say, there was a LOT of money offered. Soon enough they stopped asking politely and they started to ambush us at home or send E-Mails, asking to leave the company and start a new career at their business.

I wondered how anyone could have gotten wind of our secret project and I confronted Ford with this. He felt bad and told me that he had made a deal with someone online. They had provided some additional code, while he had given them detailed knowledge of the Portal. He had never imagined that things would escalate so quickly. Especially when suddenly Fiddlford went missing.

They dropped him a few weeks later in front of our doorstep attached with a threat. If we would not hand over the Portal to them, they would come for us.”

Bill paused and closed his eyes.

“Ford panicked. Ultimately he staged his death and the complete destruction of our company and all data attached to it.”

Dipper’s mouth had become dry and his heart was hammering against his chest.

“But weren’t you in danger, too?”  
“Sure I was and I reported it to the police. However they didn’t believe me any of it, also because all proof had been burned to ashes by Ford. The Mafia kept an annoyingly close eye on me. I think they were waiting for me to contact Ford. However suddenly Ford was back in town, which was of course not Ford but Stanley, and when they tried to approach him, he beat the hell out of them.”

It was easy to imagine how this had gone and Dipper inwardly applauded for his Grunkle’s bravery.

“So, do you think they might have noticed that the real Ford has returned a few days ago?”

Bill shook his head.

“I don’t think so. After what happened to Gideon, who was also involved in this, they became more cautious these days.”

“Hmm,” Dipper tapped his lips nervously, “but are you really safe right now?”

“Don’t worry kid. I will protect you.”

That wasn’t what Dipper had meant to say, however he couldn’t help but feel touched by these words.

“I will protect you, too.” Dipper was full of determination. He would not fail Bill again.

The blond gave him a curious look, got up from his chair and held out a hand for Dipper.

“It’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

Of course Dipper couldn’t say no to an invitation like that and he gladly followed the other upstairs to their shared bedroom.

Bill had not lied when he had told Dipper, that he would reverse the positions next time they would have sex. Although Dipper had enjoyed their first time greatly, he had liked the second time even better. The feeling of Bill inside him had been beyond compare and Dipper preferred Bill to lead instead of himself.

However now that Dipper was awake again he felt the full force of the after-effects. Everything hurt and he groaned, when he tried to turn around.

“Good morning Pine Tree,” he heard an amused Bill from the other side of the room, who was just about to get dressed.

“Bill, ugh, morning,” Dipper tried to sit up, but fell back into the cushions again.

“Has it been too rough for you?” Bill inquired, while he tied a black tie around his neck.

Dipper was too flustered to answer something intelligible and he hid his flushing face behind his arms.

The blond man snickered and came over to Dipper, sitting down next to him and softly patting his head.

“I will be kinder next time.”

Although Dipper didn’t believe him, he peeked through his arms.

“Where are you going?”

“To work.”

“Work?”

For a moment Dipper forgot about his pain and he got up and looked at Bill.

“Yes kid, I started a new job, after I blew the one at The Tent of Telepathy. I’m working now for the IT-Security at a bank.”

“Huh?” Dipper was still confused and he wondered how Bill had managed to find a new job within only a few days.

“Ok,” the brunet replied and furrowed his brows.

“Don’t make a face like this. I will be back in the afternoon. You can stay in bed or do whatever you want to. See you soon.”

Bill gave the younger man a chaste kiss on his lips and stood up again.

“Bill!”

“Hm?”

“See you!” Dipper beamed at him and waved him good-bye. As soon as Bill had closed the door, Dipper fell backwards and groaned again.

A hot shower and several teas later, Dipper finally felt strong enough to start his day. He had put his laptop on the dining table and he was all set to rewrite the Portal for Bill.

However when his hands hovered over the keyboard he couldn’t focus on the task at all. Instead he opened a tab in his browser and started to search for all the big banks in Gravity Falls. He didn’t know why he felt the urge to doublecheck on Bill’s story, still he filtered through all the old job advertisements and read through staff lists.

After only a short time Dipper found Bill’s profile listed for the IT section of one of the most successful banks in the city.

Actually this was more disturbing than it should have been. When Dipper had first searched for Bill he had never found any posting at all and now, here he was, with a profile picture, an official E-Mail and everything. Dipper couldn’t make sense of this, it looked rather unnatural.

Still he had promised to trust Bill, therefore Dipper closed the tabs again and finally he brought his focus back on the more important task at hand.

As soon as he had begun to write the code down it was like a river that had taken hold of Dipper and was just carrying him along.

He didn’t even realize it when the front-door was opening again and Bill had returned.

“Hey kid!” Bill greeted him from behind, which made Dipper jump up in alarm, only to fall back on the chair in relief when he saw that it was Bill.

“Geez! Don’t scare me to death like that.”

Dipper’s head fell on the desk and he panted heavily, much to Bill’s amusement.

“Sorry, buuuut I brought back some food for us. Wanna eat with me?”

Within seconds Dipper’s mood brightened and he closed the laptop and made some room on the dining-table for the dishes.

“So, how was your day at work?” Dipper inquired.

Bill weighed his head on his shoulders.

“Actually pretty boring. Compared to the stuff Gideon would have me do, this is quite under my abilities. But it’s ok. Money is money.”

Dipper nodded in agreement, hardly able to hold back his own achievements of the day.

“And what did you do today?”

Dipper took a seat, while Bill was putting some Chinese take-away food on the table.

“I started to rewrite the program and as soon as I had started the code just came pouring out of my brain. You don’t have to worry, I will be ready by the end of the week.”

“Wow Pine Tree, don’t overwork yourself. Another few days more or less really don’t make a difference.”

This was actually not what Dipper had wanted to hear and his shoulders slumped just slightly, but it was enough for Bill to pick up the other’s mood.

“But of course the sooner you finish, the sooner we will have much more time for each other, so I appreciate your extra effort.”

Dipper’s head snapped upwards again and he gave Bill a broad smile and nodded.

“I do my best!”

“I’m counting on you.”

The following days passed much the same. Bill would leave the house early in the morning, while Dipper would take some time to get ready and afterwards would sit in front of the laptop and reproduce as much code as he could.

This arrangement was working quite fine, until Dipper received a very angry E-Mail from one of his professors one day, asking him if he actually intended to finish his studies or drop from University.

Of course Dipper had completely forgotten about his University assignments and he wondered if this was even necessary anymore. As soon as Bill would have sold the Portal he would be the richest man on earth and Dipper was probably free to do whatever he wanted to.

However somehow Dipper’s conscience was forcing him to do his homework. So in case that Bill might break up with him sometime in the future Dipper would still have his own abilities and a University degree to help him find a job and earn his own money. Actually Dipper did want to work after University and not only rely on Bill’s goodwill. There were a lot of things Dipper would have liked to do, maybe he would even launch his own company just like Ford had done.

Thinking of Ford made Dipper feel rather conflicted.

One afternoon when he had finished his tasks for University and written several apologies to all his professors, Dipper stood in the living-room and held his phone in his hand.

He was contemplating whether or not he should call Stan. Dipper was sure that by now his Grunkle was sick with worry and therefore Dipper gave himself a push and dialled the number of the Shack.

“Yes, hello?”

Of course it was Ford who answered and for a second Dipper was tempted to just end the call.

“Hey, this is Dipper. Can I speak with Stan?”

“Oh,” was the only reply he received followed by a very long silence.

“Stan isn’t here right now. How are things going with you and Bill?”

Of all the things Ford could have asked, he chose the most infuriating thing. Dipper took a sharp breath and tried not to get too emotional.

“Fine, thank you. Better than your relationship I guess.”

Actually he felt a little bad about the comment, but he couldn’t help it. Ford had only lied to him, he deserved this.

The old man on the other end sighed heavily.

“I will tell Stan that you called and that you are all right. Please remember, we are your family and we will always be there for you.”

“Sure, bye.”

After the call had ended Dipper couldn’t explain why he felt so angry all of a sudden. It was like Ford still knew something that Dipper did not. Like even though Dipper was now Bill’s boyfriend, he would never become the man that Ford once had been for Bill.

If anything this was consolidating Dipper’s resolve to finish the Portal even more and he immediately returned to his laptop and started typing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Bill is twisting things around once again. I think Dipper knows that something is not right, but he just don't want to see it :'(  
> This is also the reason, why there won't be any fluff anymore. Starting with the next chapter things will become much worse :(


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Noncon!

On Saturday evening Dipper was still madly typing away as much of the program as he could while Bill was sitting on the couch in the same room, occupying himself with something he was reading on his I-pad.

They had already had dinner and afterwards Dipper had somewhat lost all track of time, since he was close to finishing the code for The Portal.

However, when his fingers suddenly halted in midair, he realized something highly important. Chewing his lips, he looked over to Bill and finally called over.

“Ehm, Bill?”

“Pine Tree?” Bill purred and put his tablet away.

“I, I finished the code,” Dipper said, but was far from looking happy about it, which Bill also seemed to notice. Bill tilted his head and leaned onto the backrest.

“Something wrong?”

“Yeah, well,” Dipper awkwardly scratched his head, “with this laptop I will be hardly able to start the program. This thing doesn’t even remotely have enough processing power. Actually, we would need a data centre like Ford had build in the basement of the Shack.”

With a sigh Dipper looked again at his screen and then his head fell on the keyboard.

“Ugh, why didn’t I think of this before?” He complained and closed his eyes, until he felt Bill’s hand softly patting his shoulder.

“I already took the liberty to arrange something,” Bill started and Dipper instantly straighten himself back up again.

“What?”

“I can test it tomorrow, if you lend me your laptop.”

“But where?” Dipper inquired a little warily.

“I will use the opportunity and present it to some potential clients. Of course only if you allow me to lend your laptop.”

“Huh? But I can just come along with you?” Dipper was more than irritated by now.

“No, I can’t bring you along.”

Before Dipper could reply, Bill held up one hand.

“It’s simple. I don’t want to put you into danger. You see, when I go alone, they will think that I am the Mastermind behind it and they will treat me with caution, because my knowledge is valuable to them. However as soon as they realize that you are the brain behind The Portal, they don’t have to buy anything from me! They can simply capture you, torture you, do whatever they like, until you write them the code they need. You understand kid? This is not to patronize you, but to protect you!”

Bill’s reasoning was flawless, still Dipper felt the need to pout.

“But they could simply kidnap you too, couldn’t they?”

“Sure kid, but I have made some arrangements to guarantee my safety. I’m not going there unprotected.”

“Arrangements?” Dipper inquired with raised eyebrows, which made Bill laugh.

“I don’t want to worry you, but yeah, I will bring some bodyguards with me.”

“Hmmm, I don’t like this,” Dipper huffed and leaned his chin on his palm, “also, where are you going again?”

“Kid, you really don’t need to know this!” Bill ruffled Dipper’s hair.

“I think we should go to bed now.”

Albeit grudgingly Dipper closed the laptop and followed Bill upstairs. However he couldn’t help and continue to think about everything that had just been said. There were a lot of things that Dipper felt were off and in a bad way. Still he tried to calm himself down by telling himself over and over again, that he needed to trust Bill and that he was sure that everything would work out for them.

The next day after Bill had gone and taken Dipper’s laptop with him, Dipper was having several panic attacks. On the one hand he was worried sick for Bill’s life and on the other he was worried if he really had written the program correctly. It would be the worst thing ever, if Bill was trying to load the program and nothing would happen. The deal would be off within seconds and Bill’s reputation would crumple to pieces.

Dipper was lying on the sofa and hid his face under one of the cushions. Bill had only left one hour ago and Dipper was so nervous he was close to throwing up.

He desperately wanted to take a walk but Bill had asked him not to leave the house today. Of course Dipper wouldn’t break his promise, but now he was stuck in here without his laptop and with not much to do in order to successfully distract himself.

After he was finished sulking on the couch he made himself something to eat and started to watch some random shows on Netflix. He had his phone close by in case Bill would call him, but there never came a call nor a message. More than once Dipper was tempted to write Bill and ask if he was all right, however this wouldn’t leave the best impression on potential clients, when Bill had to answer his boyfriends annoying messages.

Best if Dipper tried to stay calm and wait for Bill’s return. After five hours of binge-watching a series with the name ‘Ducktective’, Dipper finally heard the front-door opening and he sprung from the couch in order to greet Bill.

However when he saw Bill’s face Dipper froze to the spot and didn’t dare getting too close towards the other. Bill’s face was barely concealing his anger and when his eyes met Dipper’s, the brunet felt the strong impulse to run for his life.

“How...how did it go?” Dipper asked timidly not daring to look away.

The sound that Bill made was a mixture of a laugh and a growl. The blond man carefully put the bag down on the floor, which contained Dipper’s laptop before he turned around, facing Dipper again.

“How did it go? Well, maybe you can tell me?”

With a dangerous calm expression, Bill walked over to Dipper, who now made a step backwards, only to hit the wall behind him.

“What? Bill...what’s wrong?”

“Wrong?”

Now Bill was facing Dipper and for the first time Dipper became painstakingly aware that Bill wasn’t only much taller than him, but also a thousand times stronger.

The moment Dipper was forcefully shoved against the wall, he gasped for air in shock, his eyes wide open.

“So, Pine Tree,” Bill’s voice was low and raspy like he wanted to seduce Dipper, rather than rip him apart, “since you wrote the program, maybe you can tell me what happened today?”

“Bill!” Dipper tried to struggle free from Bill’s tight grip on his shoulders, but it was hopeless. Bill’s fingers were painfully digging into his skin.

“I don’t know what you mean? Did I make a mistake? Did it not work? I’m sorry if I made a mistake, I wanted to test it first. But I swear, I swear it was the same code that Ford had used! I didn’t change anything!!”

Dipper was close to tears, but Bill’s grip on him didn’t lessen, he only shoved him against the wall a second time.

“Liar!” Bill spat and his face came so close towards Dipper’s that it made several shivers run down his spine.

“It...it’s the truth Bill,” Dipper whispered, not knowing if this was enough to convince the other. Eventually Bill’s finger’s did loosen, but he still held him pinned against the wall.

“So, you did not know about any restrictions?”

“Restrictions? What do you mean?” Dipper was terrified and confused, he wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

Bill inhaled sharply and finally he let go of Dipper, who slumped against the wall behind him, panting heavily.

The blond turned away and balled his fingers into fists.

“The Portal is working just fine, however ONLY inside Gravity Falls.”

“What?!” This was news to Dipper. As far as he remembered he had never come across any such restriction inside the code he had written down.

Bill turned around again, his eyes glowing with anger.

“Right! Gravity Falls only! What good is The Portal if it can’t be used for the whole wide world? Gravity Falls!!! As if there is anything of interest in this godforsaken, rotten town!!”

Dipper didn’t dare to approach Bill and he kept his distance, while his mind was trying to find any hints regarding how this had happened.

“I don’t know any about it and I’m sorry Bill. I will check the code immediately, if that’s ok. Maybe I can find a way to work around it? I promise you, I’ll find a way, please?”

The way Bill had been looking at Dipper since he had entered the house had been nearly unbearable and Dipper wanted nothing more than to return back to normal. He wanted to be useful to Bill and he was afraid that Bill would simply drop him, if he wasn’t able to prove his worth to him.

Slowly the anger vanished from Bill’s eyes and it was replaced by his usual smug expression.

“Hm, you are right. This looks so much more like something that Ford would do. The clients were not very much amused. I told them that this was just a security measure and a demo version. Still, in case they come back and I can’t show them the whole potential of the program, I should better leave the city.”

Bill closed his eyes and let his head fall back while holding one hand against his forehead.

“Yeah, that’s Ford’s humour. He will never leave me alone.”

For some reason Dipper had to avert his gaze from Bill. As soon as he mentioned Ford, he couldn’t help it but jealousy was eating up his insides and even more the way Bill’s life seemed to be endlessly connected to Ford.

It was nagging at Dipper that he hadn’t realized it earlier that Ford had written a restriction into the code and it made Dipper hate him even more.

Suddenly Dipper was brought back to reality when a hand grabbed his wrist and was pulling him forwards.

The moment Dipper realized that Bill was actually dragging him upstairs towards the bedroom he felt strongly conflicted about it. Dipper had heard of something like reconciliation-sex, but he was far from being in the mood. Actually his whole body was still shivering with fear and he had problems breathing.

However as soon as they had entered the bedroom, Bill was ripping Dipper’s hoodie from his body and started to suck at the soft skin on Dipper’s neck. Taken by surprise Dipper gasped and reflexively held on to Bill, who seemed to interpret it as Dipper’s approval and soon the blond’s hands were roaming all over Dipper’s body.

Of course Dipper was already used to the fact that Bill liked it rough, but today his touch felt different. While Dipper was still debating with himself if he liked it or not and if he should stop Bill, he was already shoved face down onto the mattress and his pants were pulled down with one swift motion.

“Bill!” Dipper protested and tried to turn around, however the blond’s hands were holding Dipper down.

“Shhh Pine Tree,” Bill whispered into his ear and only a second later he shoved his length inside without any other preparation.

Dipper cried out in pain, clawing his fingers into the mattress, while he was already seeing stars. He panted heavily and tried telling his body to relax, but actually under the circumstances he failed big time. He didn’t want to disappoint Bill, he didn’t want to lose him, therefore he just had to play along, even if he didn’t feel like it. Dipper tried to tell himself that this was perfectly normal.

Thankfully Bill gave him a moment to collect himself, before he started to thrust in and out again.

Dipper’s body reacted on it’s own and soon enough he felt himself getting hard from the constant penetration, however his mind did not agree.

Bill was relentlessly pumping into Dipper, clawing red marks down his back and biting on his neck, while Dipper focused solely on his own breathing and he even caught himself counting the time until it would be over.

After what felt like an eternity Bill came with a last thrust and Dipper felt the warm liquid run down his legs. What he usually had enjoyed, now felt disconcerting.

Bill flopped himself next to Dipper, catching his breath. Soon he leaned over and pulled in for a kiss.

“That was awesome my little pet.”

Dipper’s eyes widened for a second, before he forced out a smile and nodded. Bill never checked nor asked if Dipper had come too and somehow Dipper felt relieved that he was spared the trouble to explain himself.

An hour later Bill had already fallen asleep, which gave Dipper the opportunity to leave the bed. He sneaked out of the room and into one of the guest bedrooms where he locked himself up into the bathroom. Only seconds later he threw up into the toilet and after he had washed out his mouth at the sink, Dipper dropped all his clothes and got under the shower.

Sitting on the ground with the steaming hot water constantly hitting his body, he could finally let the tears run free that he had been holding in for so long.

Sobbing uncontrollably he hugged his knees and just cried silently for a while. Before long there was one word popping into Dipper’s mind and it made him feel nauseous all over again.

Quickly he left the shower, but there was nothing left to throw up, the only thing that left Dipper’s mouth was the word “Used”.

Resting his forehead against the cold tiles of the bathroom, Dipper was torn between laughing and crying.

“He used me...used me...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sobbing and want to give Dipper a big hug ;__;


	19. Chapter 19

The following morning Dipper was glad that Bill had already left the house for his work, when Dipper had finally decided to leave the guest-room again.

He didn’t find any message from Bill on a post-it nor was there any on his phone. Dipper assumed that Bill hadn’t seen any big problem with Dipper leaving the bed or he hadn’t even noticed. The second option made Dipper’s stomach churn. Still Dipper didn’t feel like talking about it, especially not with Bill.

After he had made himself some tea he opened his laptop and started to skip through the program code again in order to find the source of the restriction. Sadly Dipper had no energy to focus on the task and soon he started pacing through the house. At one point he stopped in front of the big window that was facing the street and Dipper realized that he hadn’t left this house since forever. Surely a little walk could do wonders and help him to concentrate.

For a second Dipper was about to leave a note for Bill, then he decided against it, because he still felt more than cross with the other.

He pulled over his jacket and stepped outside. The air smelled of spring and it was a little cold, although the sun was shining.

Dipper had no idea if there was a park nearby, since he didn’t know the area yet, therefore he just walked down the street, letting himself drift along.

After some time he came past a playground. Of course he knew that he was definitely too old to use it, but since it was deserted, Dipper walked over and took a place on the swing.

His legs were too long in order to build up a proper momentum, therefore he settled for just rocking a little back and forth. Somehow this was unexpectedly soothing and he continued the motion, although he was already lost deep in thought.

Dipper wondered if Ford had been treated the same and for the first time Dipper felt a little less hostile towards the older man.

Also Dipper started to doubt that he could actually help Bill to get rid of the restrictions of The Portal. Dipper had written the code from his memory, but there were several passages that Dipper had no idea what it’s purpose was. Obviously the only person that could help in this case was Ford himself. However Dipper was loath asking him for help and he was sure that under no circumstances he would be willing to do so, seeing that he had been about to kill Bill with a gun.

But if The Portal wouldn’t be able to work as intended Bill’s life might be in danger. This was a horrible thought and Dipper’s hands balled into fists inside the pockets of his jacket.

However Dipper soon was distracted by some paper that he had accidentally crushed inside his hand. He retrieved it from his pocket and unfolded it again.

“Wendy Blerble Corduroy / INTERPOL Agent

Department for International Cyber Crime Security

E-Mail: WB.Corduroy@iccs.com

Phone: +XXXX”

Dipper stared at the card for a very long time and when he was just about to put it back into his jacket he hesitated.

Quickly Dipper glanced around if someone was watching him and then he pulled out his phone. He saved the number in his contacts and then he opened a new mail.

From: M.Pines@gfalls.com

To: WB.Corduroy@iccs.com

[ _Hello Wendy,_

_I would like to meet with you this week, if you have time. It’s important._

_Best regards,_

_Dipper_ ]

After Dipper had send the message he felt strange and he turned around once more to check his surroundings. No one was around, but Dipper couldn’t help but feel watched. Of course what he was about to do could be the worst mistake of his whole life and somehow the mail alone already felt like betrayal. But Dipper didn’t know what else he could do.

He had promised to help Bill and he would. If this meant to cooperate with Interpol in order to keep Bill and himself out of trouble, then he wouldn’t hesitate to do it.

Still his walk back to Bill’s house felt like something was holding him back. With each step Dipper was slowing down just as if he was doing one step forwards and two steps back. Eventually he found himself back in front of the door and suddenly the images from last night kept flashing back into his mind. Dipper’s hand started to shake when he tried to unlock the door. He had no idea how he should behave around Bill and if he was honest, he was also a little bit afraid of him.

But when Dipper entered the living-room there was only a note placed on the top of Dipper’s notebook.

“I will be back late at night. Don’t wait for me.”

If Dipper said that he wasn’t relived about it, it would have been a lie. But it was exactly this thought that made Dipper feel terribly sad. He loved Bill and he wanted to hug him, to kiss him and to feel safe with him. The Portal had ruined everything for Dipper and he hated it.

Wiping away the fresh tears that had started to roll down his cheeks, Dipper tried once more to figure out the code of the program, but he got distracted when he suddenly received a reply from Wendy.

From: WB.Corduroy@iccs.com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Hey Dipper,_

_nice to hear from you. How about tomorrow 13:00? Meet me at Lazy Susan’s Diner._ ]

Dipper felt a rush running through his body. He quickly googled the location and afterwards he deleted the browser history and Wendy‘s mail on top. Of course Dipper was sure that Bill wasn‘t spying on him, Dipper pretended that this was only an old habit.

When Dipper went to bed that night he did not return into Bill‘s bedroom and rather locked himself back up into the guest-room.

Surely there was no need to lock the door, but again Dipper justified it that it was out of habit. Back at the Shack he had also always locked the door, not because he had something to hide, but because he liked his privacy. Surely Bill would understand.

Most likely he wouldn‘t even miss Dipper, was the bitter afterthought, before he finally drifted into a deep sleep.

The next morning looked much the same as the one before. Bill had already left and there was no message left for Dipper, when he entered the living-room.

Probably this was just the way Bill was, but if so, it was vastly different from the way he had behaved towards Dipper in the beginning.

Around noon Dipper left the house again and headed towards the Diner that Wendy had told him. Every now and then Dipper was checking if there was someone tailing him and he tried to keep a low profile. He had even calculated to make a detour in order to shake off any followers.

Dipper had refrained from putting on his hood and sunglasses, because he was sure that he would stand out a lot more this way than he normally would.

When he entered the diner, he immediately spotted Wendy’s red hair from the distance. The young women waved him over and gave him a broad smile when he sat down opposite her.

“Hey Dipper, how are you? You look like shit!” Wendy remarked with a worried look on her face.

“Hey there...I do? Well, maybe, but that’s not the point!”

Dipper waited for the waitress to take their orders before he dared to continue. However Wendy held up one hand, before he could utter another word.

“You can speak freely in here. This place is run by Interpol, so you don’t need to worry.”

Actually this was exactly what had worried Dipper the most, still he plucked up his courage and began to tell Wendy the whole story about The Portal.

After he had finished Wendy didn’t seem too impressed.

“Well, we actually knew about this already, but we were not aware that you had actually seen the whole code and even memorized it. That’s quite impressive.”

Dipper would have felt happy about the praise, if the circumstances would have been different.

“Yeah, but I fear that Bill is in danger now and maybe I am too.”

“I get that and you are probably right. The Cyber Mafia is after The Portal since forever!”

This made Dipper feel even worse.

“So, the deal is, I hand over The Portal to you and you guarantee Bill and my safety. We both will take part in the witness protection program. Get a new name, a new life and will never be bothered by you ever again.”

“Sure Dipper, I can arrange that if you want to.”

“Yes, definitely!”

“Ok, but Dipper,” Wendy reached over the table and held Dipper’s hand, “you really should not go back to Bill. You might not see it yet, but he is a dangerous man. If you return to him now, I can not guarantee your safety.”

Dipper swallowed hard and looked on the table for a long time.

“I have to go back. I have to save him.”

“Fine.” Wendy nodded and let go of Dipper’s hand.

They both said goodbye to each other and Dipper returned back home. Wendy had told him, that she would make all the necessary arrangements and that she would contact him with further instructions as soon as she was ready. However Dipper had to stall for time the following days.

When Dipper returned back to Bill’s house he was shocked to see Bill sitting on the couch, his expression unreadable.

“Bill? You’re back already?” It was impossible for Dipper to hide his irritation and his voice was much higher than he had intended it to be, so that even a fool would realize that Dipper had done something questionable.

Dipper casually walked over to Bill, however he maintained some distance towards the other.

“Were you able to leave work early today?” Dipper inquired with a friendly smile, but his expression froze, when Bill’s eyes met his.

“Pine Tree,” Bill sighed, “I hope you know that you are very dear to me. And I must say that it comes as quite a shock to find you working hand in hand with Interpol.”

Dipper’s mouth suddenly felt dry and he was sure that his heart had just stopped beating, or he rather wished it had.

Bill got up from the couch and was now towering over Dipper.

“I know you had the best intentions. But you can’t trust these people.”

Bill reached out and softly caressed Dipper’s cheek. For a moment Dipper felt reminded of the beginning of their relationship and it stabbed right into his chest.

“Pine Tree,” Bill shook his head, “what are you doing to me?”

Dipper wanted to ask the same, but the other way around.

“I just want to help,” Dipper stammered.

Bill sighed again and removed his hand from Dipper’s cheek.

“We need to go.” Bill announced, his expression serious.

“Now? Where?”

Bill didn’t answer any of the questions. The blond man only stuffed Dipper’s laptop into a bag and shoved it into Dipper’s arms. Then he grabbed Dipper’s wrist and pulled him out of the house.

He roughly pushed the young man into his car and immediately started the engine.

“Bill! Where are we going? What is this all about?” Dipper’s voice was terrified, but Bill’s eyes were locked on the street, when suddenly Dipper heard a deafening sound from behind.

He winced and turned around only to see the most horrifying image he had ever seen. The house he and Bill had been in only minutes ago had just exploded and now the flames were licking high into the sky. A few neighbours had started to run from the adjacent houses and some were already calling for help. It was like a scene from a movie only a thousand times more terrible, since this had been his home for some time.

“See!” Bill didn’t pay much attention to the scene unfolding behind him.

“I...I don’t understand,” Dipper’s voice was barely audible.

“That’s what Interpol does. That’s their idea of safety! Their own safety so to say! Kill everyone, make it look like an accident and be done with it. Haven’t you smelled the gas?”

“Gas?” Dipper tried to remember if he had smelled anything strange when he had entered, but he couldn’t remember. He had been too shocked by Bill’s presence already.

“They tried to kill us? Are you sure?”

“100% positive about it,” Bill confirmed and speed up the car.

“But how did you know where I was and when I would return?”

Bill chuckled and gave Dipper a small smile.

“Honestly? I had Gideon’s spy-software installed on your phone ages ago! I always knew where to find you and if I saw fit I was also able to listen in to any conversation. After the little Episode with Gideon’s minions I reckoned this might come in handy in case you get yourself in danger. And living with me always ends up in a dangerous life.”

Actually Dipper wanted to protest, because spying on your boyfriend was certainly not how trust was build, however, Bill had now saved his life the second time and he should probably feel grateful for it.

“I would appreciate it, if you could remove the app from my phone. Still, thanks for being there and saving my life...again.”

“No problem, Pine Tree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of things happening here. It's a little fast paced and maybe even a bit messy. Sorry for that!!
> 
> Only three more chapters!!!


	20. Chapter 20

Dipper was still shaking a little when the door was closing behind him. They had driven through the city of Gravity Falls for some time, until Bill had parked the car inside an underground carpark and afterwards he had led Dipper into an elevator, that had finally brought them into a penthouse at the top of the building.

Hesitantly Dipper walked into the apartment while he took in the scene. Since the outer walls were all made from glass, they had a breathtaking look over the city skyline. The interior was modern and there was even a grand piano standing at one end of the lobby. Dipper had seen such luxury only in movies and it felt strange to actually become a part of this kind of world.

“Do you like it?” Bill suddenly asked and turned around.

“Eh, yeah, it’s...big.”

Bill chuckled and approached Dipper in order to put his arms around the other’s waist.

“It’s gonna be your new home from now on. Feel free to explore it as much as you like, but what’s most important is, that you’ll be able to connect your laptop with a computer that is powerful enough to run The Portal. This is actually the place where I last went to make the presentation.”

“Here?” Dipper peeked once more over Bill’s shoulder.

“But if they know this place, isn’t it dangerous to use it again?”

“Don’t worry,” Bill hummed and started to kiss Dipper’s forehead affectionately. However after everything that had already happened, Dipper didn’t feel much assured by this.

“But they could come here any minute! Aren’t you afraid??”

The blond man happily continued to kiss Dipper on his cheeks.

“Nope, not afraid at all. Trust me, will you?”

Dipper sighed. He wanted to trust Bill, but it was a difficult task when Bill always avoided to give him a clear answer.

“Ok, I trust you.”

“Good!” Bill beamed at him and let go of his hips.

“Should I give you a tour?” The blond man made a gesture and invited Dipper to follow him.

The penthouse was ridiculously large, Dipper thought and once again it made him wonder, why Bill would need more money, since he already seemed to have everything one could ask for.

“Annd that was about everything I could show you. Do you want to have something for dinner now?”

“Actually I don’t feel very hungry...I would like to go to bed, if this is ok?”

“Sure kid.” Bill tilted his head, eyeing Dipper cautiously.

“If you need anything, I’ll be right here. Ah! One thing!”

“Hm?”

“Can I borrow your phone?”

“What for?” Dipper asked, although he didn’t mean to sound biased already.

“You asked me to remove the tracking app, remember?”

“Ah, right. Yes, of course, here you go and thank you.”

Dipper handed him the device over and then he meant to go to the bedroom, however he had forgotten which room it was. Looking up at Bill again, he was just about to ask, when Bill indicated the direction with a grin.

“Bedroom is that way.”

“Thanks and good night.”

“Sweet dreams Pine Tree.”

To tell the truth Dipper wasn’t feeling tired at all, but he really needed to be alone for a while. Much to Dipper’s chagrin however the masters bedroom wasn’t the best choice. While the interior was very beautifully arranged, the whole atmosphere was ruined by an enormous, colourful glass mosaic of one single eye that kept on staring at Dipper. Whoever had placed it opposite the bed, had had a strange sense of humour.

With a grunt Dipper pulled the blanket over his face, so that he would be shielded from the unblinking eye. For the first time since he had met Bill, it struck Dipper that Bill seemed to have a strange obsession regarding triangles and single eyes.

Although Dipper had intended to use the time to think about all the recent events, the warmth that surrounded him soon lulled him into a deep sleep.

It came as no surprise that there was no trace of Bill when Dipper entered the main area of the penthouse the next morning. On top, there wasn’t even a note nor was there any sign of Dipper’s phone. In his mind Dipper made excuses for Bill’s behaviour, telling himself that Bill couldn’t remove the app from his phone at home and needed to go somewhere to get the job done. Sure, this was exactly what he was doing. Even Dipper had a hard time believing and his situation worsened, when he realized that he had no key for the frontdoor. Hesitantly Dipper approached the door and reached out to open it.

Locked.

One part of Dipper started to panic and he tried it again with the same result. His body was shaking when he dropped himself down on the expensive leather couch.

Had he become Bill’s prisoner or was it because Bill didn’t trust him anymore? After Dipper had gone to Interpol and spilled some of Bill’s secrets it was actually only reasonable to limit his freedom.

Dipper held his head in his hands and only concentrated on his breathing. As soon as Bill would return, he was sure that they could solve the issue. Maybe Bill had only forgotten to leave a key?

Anyways Dipper needed to find something to do or he would soon loose his mind.

In this moment he remembered about the portal again and he stood up and went over to his fully equipped hardware station. He connected his old laptop with all available items and after he had logged in, the next bad news greeted him. He had no connection to the internet! Not at all!

“What the actual fuck!?!?!”

Dipper cursed and had a mind to throw his laptop across the room. How was he supposed to work if he couldn’t even look up anything?

Angrily Dipper crossed his arms in front of him and chewed on his lower lip. Probably this was another security measure, so that Dipper wouldn’t be able to reach out to anyone anymore.

Since he couldn’t go outside, nor use the world wide web, there was only one place where Dipper could go: The Portal!

Dipper had no idea how to use it, but he was sure that he would find out. Also this was his best chance in order to bypass the restrictions Ford had written into the program code.

His hands flew over the keyboard once again and just a second later The Portal was running. Whatever Dipper had expected, it had been much different. It reminded him a lot of a movie where people got trapped into a virtual reality and some of them were able to see the code made from ‘1’ and ‘0’ only.

He scrolled through the screen and very slowly he found his way around and soon he realized that he was looking at IPs and Device IDs among other things.

“Here goes nothing,” Dipper whispered and randomly logged into one device.

A new screen popped open and the device information scrolled over the screen.

“Uh...wow Dipper, you managed to log into a robot vacuum.”

The brunet face-palmed himself. Still he carefully checked the information. It seemed like the robot had a battery life of 80% and was just during his cleaning. Dipper had several options now. He could stop the process, make him drive back to the docking station or tell him where he should go, even circumvent the internal logic that would prevent it from falling down stairs.

Dipper snickered when he thought about demolishing the robot, but he refrained from doing so and jumped to the next device.

He continued this for several hours, until he was finally able to see a pattern. Afterwards he focused on logging into whatever device came to his mind. First he logged into the computer of his Prof at University and read through some personal mails and when he got bored Dipper felt that he needed to test The Portal on more complex things. Soon he was easily accessing ATMs, bank accounts, medical files and a lot more sensitive data Dipper would never have been able to access.

It was easy to get lost in the rush of excitement he was feeling each time he accessed data, that a normal hacker would never have been able to see.

While Dipper came up with more wild ideas for testing, he suddenly followed a spontaneous suggestion.

However before he did anything he looked over his shoulder and made sure that he was still alone.

For no particular reason, Dipper had started sweating while his fingers typed some letters on the keyboard.

A moment later Dipper found himself on the file server of Interpol. Of course Dipper wasn’t the type that had any criminal energy at all, therefore his heart was hammering heavily inside his chest, when he scrolled through the files. He knew that this was against the law and that he could possible even go to jail for this, but he couldn’t help but continue.

The first thing that caught his attention was a file that was labelled “Tent of Telepathy”. Holding his breath he double clicked it and immediately started to read, while his eyes became larger and larger with every passing minute.

“Reading something interesting, Pine Tree?”

Dipper jumped from the chair with a yelp, shielding the screen and it’s content from Bill. Quickly he put the file into the background and turned around.

“Bill!! Sorry, I was so fascinated by The Portal, I didn’t realize you returned already.”

Even a fool could see that Dipper was hiding something, therefore Dipper gave up the pretence.

“Actually, I...have some questions.”

Bill raised an eyebrow and sat down on the desk next to Dipper’s laptop, looking at the brunet expectantly.

“Go on.”

“Well,” Dipper clasped one hand behind his head.

“The first time we met at the Mystery Shack...why were you there?”

The blond man smiled and looked up at the ceiling.

“I wanted to meet you. After Ford left I was always hunting for someone that was just as genius as he was and I was regularly checking the web for any promising talents. The fact that you were also related to Ford, was both promising as well as unnerving.”

“But you were still at war with Stan. Makes no sense that you would show up just like that.” Dipper countered and went on. “You had brought two men with you, didn’t you. They tried to blackmail Stan.”

Bill chuckled and for once he didn’t seem to evade the topic.

“Yeah, you mean the Henchmaniacs: Paci-Fire and Xanthar. We were sent there by Gideon. He knew that your Grunkle had another USB-Stick and therefore he regularly made an offer to him. Gideon didn’t know about my personal vendetta with the Pines Family. Still I went with the others and just hoped you would show up and I was lucky. You were not only bright, but also good-looking.”

Dipper ignored the compliment for once and crossed his arms, while he thought for a while.

“Hmm, this can’t be right, because actually you are the funder of the Tent of Telepathy and Gideon acted under your instructions.”

For a brief second Bill’s smile froze, but he continued as if nothing had happened.

“You got me there. I was the funder, but Gideon had the annoying tendency to act before thinking. I might have been involved in the blackmailing, but not when he kidnapped you!”

Bill looked straight at Dipper, who was torn once more. He had read a lot about Bill’s past in the files from Interpol and it was a fact that Bill had given Gideon not only the money, but also free access to the USB-Stick in order to run his shady business.

“Who are you really Bill?” Dipper finally asked, his gaze holding Bill’s.

“No one you should fall in love with,” Bill whispered and gazed out of the window into the distance.

Dipper had no idea how to react. He just stood frozen to the spot and looked at Bill, hoping that he would say or do something, anything.

However the moment passed too soon and when Bill got up from the desk, his expression had become hard and distant.

“Can you solve the barrier on The Portal?” He suddenly asked.

“I...I don’t know I just,” Dipper stammered, but Bill wasn’t even waiting for Dipper to finished the sentence.

“Ford can, doesn’t he?”

Bill’s words were sharp as a knife and his eyes were unrelenting when they fell on Dipper once more. The moment Bill mentioned Ford, anger flashed through Dipper’s body and he glared at Bill.

“Maybe,” Dipper crossed his arms in front of his chest and he avoided Bill’s gaze.

“Then let’s find out about that,” Bill proposed and threw something at Dipper, who only barely managed to catch it, before the item would fall to the ground. A little dumbstruck Dipper was staring at his own phone he was now holding in is hand.

“Call him!” Bill commanded, which made the brunet look up to him with eyes wide open.

“Wait? I can not simply ask him to come over! It’s Ford we are talking about.”

Bill casually winked at Dipper and shrugged.

“You are family. I’m sure he will be more than willing to help.”

Dipper had a bad feeling about this and before he dialled the number of the Shack he hesitated for a moment. However Bill was only inspecting his fingernails waiting for Dipper to comply.

“Here goes nothing...”

To Dipper it felt like an eternity, before someone finally picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

The gruff voice immediately told Dipper that he was talking to Stan and he felt relived to hear the old man’s voice.

“Hey Grunkle Stan, it’s Dipper.”

“Dipper!!! Thank god! How are you?”

“I’m fine thank you. And you, how’s the Shack?”

“Actually…,” whatever his Grunkle wanted to say, Dipper never heard the words, since there was a sound on the other end as if someone dropped the receiver. Afterwards Dipper could hear two men fighting and when the receiver was picked up again, Dipper was clearly speaking with Ford now.

“Dipper!”

Ford panted and was about to add something, when Stan yelled at Ford from the background.

“Can you not let me speak with him for only a minute!! You are a heartless gremlin!!”

“Will you shut up Stan!!!” Ford yelled back and Dipper had to remove the phone from his ear because of the noise.

Bill only smiled as if he had already expected this.

“Eh Ford, I want to ask you something,” Dipper began and finally both men on the other end fell silent again.

“Yes, go on.”

“Well, as you might already have suspected, I re-wrote The Portal. I knew the code by heart. However, it,well….,” Dipper struggled and looked at Bill, his expression was once again hard to read.

“However you couldn’t lift the barrier I installed.” Ford finished the sentence for Dipper.

“Yes, exactly.”

Dipper went silent again. He had no idea how he was supposed to continue. Just inviting Ford to come over and help seemed far from realistic.

In the end there was no need for Dipper to resume, because Bill snatched the phone from his hand.

“Sixer! I think we both know what will happen, if you don’t lift the barrier. Either you remove it or I remove something else. Understood? Good, I’ll forward you everything else for our little rendezvous.”

The blond man then hung up, placed the phone back on the table and was just about to leave the room again, when Dipper run after Bill and grabbed the other’s wrist.

“What was that all about?”

Bill yanked his arm free and his gaze was cold as ice.

“I threatened to kill you, if he doesn’t cooperate. I thought this would be dramatic enough to make him help.”

“Bill!! You,...what? You didn’t mean that….did you?”

Dipper wasn’t sure anymore if Bill was only joking or if he actually meant it.

“As a matter of fact I did!”

Only one swift motion of Bill’s muscular arms and he had Dipper pinned against the wall.

“Actually I can do whatever I want with you. You are mine, Pine Tree. You might not yet have realized it, but even if I left a key for you to leave, you will always come back to me. Just like Ford.”

Dipper struggled, although he knew it was hopeless.

When Bill  finally let go of Dipper, the brunet dropped to the ground as if all his energy had drained from his body. Dipper had no strength to reply and he looked after Bill incredulously, when the blond  man simply walked out of the door and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to somehow bring the Fearamid penthouse into this story, although without any petriefied citizens :D.  
> And also I think there was a moment in here when Bill actually told the truth. Dipper also already knows, he's in denial, but he knows who Bill really is.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is still one more chapter to go!! Please don't bring the torches and pitchforks just yet ;_;  
> Still, comments and thoughts are very much appreciated :)

Dipper didn’t dare to go looking for Bill. He also didn’t feel like using The Portal anymore. For a very long time he sat on the ground, hugging his knees and staring at the opposite wall, his mind blank.

He didn’t want to think about Bill’s words. It was impossible for Dipper to tell when Bill was telling the truth and when he was making things up. Probably he had lied since day one. Then again he had shown Dipper secrets that no one else would have confided to him.

But at one point Bill sadly was right. Dipper couldn’t leave him, not anymore. He was in love with Bill and as long as there was the tiniest chance, that Bill might be in love with him too, Dipper would fight for him. Bill wasn’t a bad person, there was still hope left, only Dipper had to work a little harder to be able to show it to the rest of the world as well.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to involve Ford, Dipper thought. There was a chance that Ford also still meant something to Bill and if both could talk Bill out of The Portal thing, maybe it wasn’t impossible to save Bill. He was a genius! He could do anything, if he wanted to. There was no need for him to be involved in shady businesses like cyber crime.

When Dipper finally stood up again he had no idea how much time had passed. For a second Dipper could hardly believe that his phone was still lying on the table. However, when Dipper tried to use it, there was only an error message shown. Something told him, that Bill was blocking the phone on purpose and once again Dipper felt anger bubble up inside his body. He slammed the phone on the table and walked into the large living room area in the centre of the penthouse.

It was in the middle of the night and the only source of light was the illuminated skyline of Gravity Falls that surrounded the building from all sides. At first Dipper thought he was alone, but soon he spotted a silhouette leaning against one of the windows. Dipper had half a mind to turn back and not approach the other, but his body was suddenly moving on it’s own.

“Hey,” Dipper said a little timidly.

Bill didn’t turn around and continued to stare outside into the darkness. Because Dipper didn’t know what else to say, he was about to leave again, when Bill suddenly spoke up.

“Wait,” he commanded and Dipper froze and turned around.

Both their eyes met and there was a long silence afterwards, which neither of them wanted to break.

Suddenly Bill reached out and his hand softly cupped Dipper’s cheek.

“Will you follow me into hell?”

Without thinking Dipper nodded, too entranced by the mismatched eyes that kept on looking at him and only him.

“Good,” Bill smiled and pulled Dipper into a tight embrace, who returned the gesture and placed his hands at the small of Bill’s back.

He deeply inhaled the other’s intoxicating scent, before Bill loosened his hold again in order to kiss the brunet.

For Dipper it felt like a dream and his body immediately asked for more, however Bill pulled back too soon and quickly walked past Dipper.

“I will be back in about an hour with Ford.”

The blond man announced and walked straight to the frontdoor without giving Dipper another glance, who once again felt so many conflicting emotions at the same time.

Of course Dipper couldn’t stop Bill and therefore he was forced to wait alone inside the huge Penthouse, getting closer to loosing his mind with every passing minute.

He had no masterplan he would follow as soon as Ford would arrive. He decided that it would be best to go with the flow and see what was happening. Ford was definitely a tough call. It was hard to imagine that Ford would actually help Bill. More likely Ford would set the whole place on fire, if it was the only way to stop Bill.

Clearly Ford would try to set Dipper against Bill. Under no circumstances Dipper should trust anything that Ford would be telling him. That man was jealous and false, he told himself over and over again until he heard the front door opening again.

Since Dipper had been pacing up and down inside the lobby, he was already there, when Bill shoved Ford through the door.

The older man fell to the ground and glared, however the moment he spotted Dipper, his expression changed into relief.

“Dipper!” he called out and pushed himself up again.

The brunet was about to help him get up, when one glance at Bill told him to stay away.

“Hey Ford,” Dipper greeted the other, while his hands started to nervously fidget with the hem of his shirt.

“I’m glad to see that he hasn’t harmed you yet.”

Ford gave a side glance to Bill that could have killed.

“Harmed? Why should he harm me?” Dipper answered automatically.

“Why indeed?” Bill walked over to Dipper and put one arm around his shoulders, while pulling him close.

“You see Sixer, Pine Tree is as loyal as he can be. He’s not about to burn my house to ashes, spilt my lifelong work into pieces and fake his own death.”

Ford laughed out loud with bitter hatred.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, if I were you,” Ford countered, but Bill’s smile only widened.

“Now, we are not here to discuss my relationship are we?”

Bill removed his arm from Dipper’s shoulder, only to grab his hand and continue to hold on to it, while he showed Ford the way to the computer room.

Dipper felt flattered and confused at the same time. The gesture didn’t feel like Bill was marking his possession, but more like he wanted to stop Dipper from running.

While Dipper wondered why Bill would think that he would actually leave him, he was pulled back into reality, when Bill placed him in front of his laptop.

Ford immediately started to look sour, but he hid it well.

“Well Sixer, now you can tell Dipper how to solve our little problem.”

“Actually I think this would work much faster if I could sit…,” before Ford could say anything else Bill ts-ked him.

“My dear Ford, after all we went through I would not trust you with such an important task. However I do trust him.”

Bill underlined his statement with two soft pats on Dipper’s head, like one would praise a dog for his good behaviour.

“Have it your way then,” Ford grumbled and fetched another USB-Stick from the inside of his cloak and handed it over to Dipper.

“This is the missing part. You only need to add it to the existent code and it will open the portal world wide.”

Out of habit Dipper was just about to plug the device into his laptop, when Bill stopped him.

“Pine Tree! Safety first!”

It took Dipper a second before he understood. Of course Bill feared that Ford had hidden some kind of virus on the device or something even worse. Dipper adjusted the settings and started a safe testing environment, before he would load the content.

“Much better,” Bill praised him and let one hand run over Dipper’s back, which made the brunet shiver.

Ford just stood next to them, with his arms crossed and Dipper couldn’t help but think that something about Ford was off. However before he could think further about it, he concentrated back on the task ahead of him. Carefully he checked the content of the USB-Stick, while Bill was observing his every move.

“Seems fine to me,” Dipper finally declared.

“All right, then go on.”

The tension inside the room had become almost unbearable and Bill’s eyes had started to sparkle with something that Dipper would best describe as giddiness. Probably Bill had never been this close to success before.

Dipper did as he was told and installed the missing parts into the code of The Portal. Once again Dipper couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. While the USB-Stick was looking like all the other devices he had held in his hands, the weight had been different. Or maybe Dipper was starting to imagine things.

“Done!” Dipper confirmed and Bill was nearly jumping right into the screen.

“Test it! What are you waiting for Pine Tree?”

Quickly Dipper typed the first thing that came to his mind.

“There! We are logged into the Netflix backend. Usernames, Passwords, Credit Card details, everything there.”

This time Bill did indeed shove Dipper to the side and typed something into the keyboard.

Only a short time afterwards Bill started laughing like a maniac and his expression looked contorted.

“At last! At long last! The day has come, the world is finally mine!!”

Bill’s laughter send several cold shivers down Dipper’s spine.

“No boundaries anymore! Deleting criminal records, is only a click away. Emptying bank accounts? No problem for me! Controlling weapons and nuclear reactors is as simple as stealing a child the candy!”

“Bill?” Dipper dared to interrupt the other’s victory celebration, but since Bill was in a very good mood he turned towards the brunet with a smile.

“Pine Tree?”

“Are you going to use The Portal yourself? I thought you wanted to sell it?”

Bill’s smile widened and fear took hold of Dipper’s heart. Actually he did not want to hear what Bill was about to say.

“You are very right! I don’t intend to sell it. I never did! This is the most powerful weapon ever created, why should I share my power?”

“So...you are a criminal after all?” Dipper asked, feeling completely empty inside.

“Right! Ford was right what he told you. I am not only part of the Cyber Mafia, I am the head of it! Where else would I have gotten the financial support from up until now? And I’m going to throw the world into chaos. But you are invited to join me Pine Tree, you can rule by my side!”

Bill stood up from the chair and Dipper thought he was about to approach him. Torn between his emotions Dipper hesitated and was about to make a step backwards.

In this moment however he heard a cough coming from behind him and he remembered that they were not alone in the room. For a moment Dipper had forgotten about Ford.

A little timidly Dipper glanced over at the older man and that was the moment, when Dipper finally understood. He had no time to react, because Bill had started laughing once more and suddenly he was pointing a gun straight at Ford.

“Brilliant Sixer!!! Brilliant! I thank you very much for your support. However I think you have become redundant now. I really don’t need anyone else knowing about The Portal. Any last words?”

With horror Dipper watched the scene unfold in front of him. One part wanted to stop Bill, but the other part was too afraid to move.

Ford however only started laughing himself as if he had just lost his mind.

“Ahahahah Bill, you are so stupid, I can hardly believe it!” Ford wiped some laughing tears from his eyes before he continued. Meanwhile Bill’s eyes had narrowed to slits.

“I’m not Ford. I’m Stanley Pines and I’m useless when it comes to computers. However my twin is a genius and that’s why he just completely messed up your little plan!”

“What did he do?!” Bill bellowed, the gun still pointing at Stan.

“You invited the enemy into your home and with this little device you not only just gave away your position to the police, you also made it possible for Ford to hack into The Portal and it must be in this very moment, that he is sending out a code how to protect any device from access of The Portal, just about...NOW!”

Right then all devices that had any kind of internet connection started to beep, even Dipper’s phone that had become useless and was still lying on the table had received a message and the screen started to glow.

“HOW DARE YOU! PINES!!!!” Bill was shouting, his gaze full of malice, that Dipper could have sworn that his eyes had started to glow red.

Stan, who looked very pleased with himself, was not at all fazed by Bill’s threats.

“You see Bill, The Portal is now useless, because after a few days everyone will know how to protect themselves. You lost!”

Dipper saw the shot coming before his Grunkle did and the brunet smashed right into Bill in order to make him miss the target. Because he had the moment of surprise on his side he was able to knock the gun out of Bill’s hand.

However the next thing Dipper heard was his Grunkle dropping to the ground with blood streaming down his temple.

“STAN!” Dipper cried out, his vision already blurry from tears. He wanted to run over to him, but a hand was holding him back.

Horrified Dipper turned around and his eyes met Bill’s. Whatever Bill had meant to do or to say was lost, when both men heard the sound of the front-door getting smashed and quickly approaching footsteps.

Bill let go of Dipper, who rushed over to his Grunkle on the ground.

“Stan?! Stan, are you all right?? Can you hear me?” Dipper sobbed and checked the wound, that thankfully only seemed like a graze wound.

Suddenly the door to the computer room got kicked in and several heavily armed men started to surround Bill, shouting commands at each other.

Bill didn’t fight them. Actually he stood proudly, when they applied the cuffs to his wrists. Before they started shoving him out of the room Bill’s and Dipper’s gaze met once again and when Bill called out his name, he could have sworn that there was something like regret found in his eyes.

“Dipper…, I...”

Dipper had already opened his lips for a reply, but then several of the men were blocking his view, while insistently talking to Dipper and asking him questions about what had happened to him and if he was hurt, but Dipper couldn’t hear a word anymore. Bill calling him by his name for the first and last time, kept on ringing inside his ears over and over again. Why didn’t he protect Bill? Why were they arresting him? Was this the end?

Tears kept on streaming down Dipper’s face and everything afterwards happened only in slow motion. Someone picked him up from the floor and Dipper spotted some shocking red hair and a woman’s voice told him that everything would be okay now.


	22. Chapter 22

It had been five years since the incident at the penthouse.

Thanks to Ford and Stan The Portal had never been as powerful as Bill had intended it to be. All the big companies were soon running important security updates and only a week later every device was safe from intruders. Now the only thing The Portal could still access were very old devices that did not receive any software updates anymore. If anyone wanted to hack into such a device, there wasn’t much damage one could cause.

The story was the headline of any TV channel for the next month and afterwards the world started to move on again. Thanks to Wendy and her team, neither Ford nor Dipper were mentioned. The same could not be said about Bill. There was a large investigation surrounding this case and naturally he went into jail. Dipper was never told where or for how long and sometimes he felt bitter about it.

Then again while the news and the police wanted to convict Bill, they were not able to produce sufficient evidence. Bill’s talent to hide his steps came in handy for him once again. The only thing they could prove was his involvement in the Tent of Telepathy and his connections to the Cyber Mafia. In the end they did not manage to proof that he actually had been the head of it for the longest time. Dipper was sure that his team had been working very sufficiently on deleting any tracks that could lead back to them.

But Dipper had mostly tried to avoid any news regarding Bill. All the memories had been too painful and still were.

Also after his Grunkle Stan had been released from the hospital he had suffered under heavy amnesia. Although the wound hadn’t been severe, it seemed that the impact had left some kind of trauma. Dipper had therefore paused his study and together with Ford they took care of Stan. While Stan was perfectly able to follow his everyday life, he had forgotten almost everything about his past.

Sometimes Dipper thought it was actually a good thing that Stan had forgotten the quarrel he had had with his brother. Both men were now getting along so much better and they soon made good for all the missed time.

The three of them started to travel around the world and from time to time Stan remembered a little more from his past, much to Ford’s and Dipper’s relief.

Dipper was glad that he was able to leave Gravity Falls for a while and he enjoyed the time with his two Grunkles. Although he still loathed Ford a little every now and then, he actually had to admit that they had much in common. They avoided talking about Bill though and Dipper was thankful for it. Ford also asked Dipper a few times if he could imagine starting a new company together with him and becoming his apprentice, however Dipper always politely declined. He didn’t want to think about his future just yet and he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to continue studying at all.

During the first two year they travelled through Europe and Asia.

One evening when the three of them were having a drink at an Izakaya in Kyoto, Dipper finally felt ready to talk a little about the past.

“Ford, when did you write the code that would protect any device from The Portal?”

Ford looked a little shocked, while Stan only shrugged and continued drinking his beer.

“I started it shortly after I had left Gravity Falls. I was sure that Bill would never give up on the program and that he would open The Portal sooner or later. That’s why I changed my plan. I thought it would be best to allow The Portal to exist, because after all even if I deleted it over and over again, as long as someone exists who could rewrite the code, it will always be a threat. You see Dipper, I knew how to write the code, Bill did in parts and you did too in the end. Therefore the Mafia would have never stopped hunting us, even if we deleted the program a thousand times. Our knowledge alone made us their target number one. Therefore the only solution was not to destroy it, but to find a way to counter it’s strength. It took me some time to figure it out, but in the end I was successful. That’s the only thing Bill never expected.”

“I understand.” Dipper held his glass with both hands and his expression became sad once more.

“Hmm, I also wondered why he called you ‘Sixer’?”

This question actually made Ford laugh and for a moment Dipper forgot about the empty feeling inside his chest.

“Ahahah yes, he gave me that nickname because he always thought that when I was typing something into the keyboard I looked as if I had one additional finger, because I typed so fast!”

“Really?” Dipper now laughed in earnest and there was a connection between both men, that only they could understand.

After some years of travelling together Dipper excused himself and continued his journey on his own. He had spent some more time in Japan and finally he had settled himself in London.

He hadn’t told his Grunkles but for some time he was already working together with Wendy for Interpol. He wasn’t officially a staff member yet, but he helped out every now and then and he received quite a lot of money for it. After all his skills were good for something. Because of this he was able to afford a little flat and he didn’t have to worry about paying his bills.

His usual routine was to take a long walk through Hyde Park, where he would feed some squirrels and afterwards he would sit at a café and watch people passing by. He always had one Early Grey and a Blueberry Muffin.

Once again it was one of these days where Dipper wondered for the millionst time, if Bill had only used him or if there had actually been more.

He was sure that an onlooker would immediately tell Dipper that Bill had never loved him, not even for a second. However from Dipper’s perspective things looked a little differently. Of course he knew that Bill had not contacted him for his good looks only or just by accident. But still one small part of Dipper was clinging to the thought that Bill had liked him, if only the smallest bit. Dipper would never forget the moment, when Bill had actually invited him to rule by his side. Somehow Dipper felt that this offer had been special. Back then Bill could have easily killed him, but he chose not to. This was the part that up until today Dipper was not able to digest.

The first few month after they had been separated Dipper had been hardly able to sleep, because he had feared the nightmares that always came hunting him at night. He had zero appetite and soon he looked like a shadow of his usual self. Ford and Stan had both been worried sick.

Most of the time Dipper was torn between feeling sorry for himself or angry at Bill. He had missed him so baldy and he had asked Wendy more than once if he could only speak with Bill one last time. Dipper just had to know the truth.

However he never got the chance. He had to go on living with the truth being the one Dipper would accept for himself.

At one point Dipper decided that he didn’t want to worry his Grunkles anymore and soon Ford also made the suggestion to travel around the world.

Up until today Dipper still sometimes had nightmares and sometimes he woke up with fresh tears streaming down his cheeks, but over the time, it had become less and less.

One day Dipper even felt strong enough to go looking for a new partner. It wasn’t like he wasn’t good at living on his own. Actually he had always preferred to be on his own, instead of being in a relationship. It was only with Bill, that he had changed his mind.

Out of curiosity Dipper had soon started dating women as well as men. But there had never been anyone like Bill. No one could spark the same flames inside his heart, like the blond man had been able to. Once a man Dipper had invited for dinner actually kissed him and Dipper had allowed it, only to then push the poor guy away and leave him behind at the restaurant with the bill to pay. Dipper still felt embarrassed, remembering this incident and afterwards he had stopped the dating.

Maybe it was too early, or maybe Bill had ruined him for everyone else. Either way Dipper didn’t feel bad about it. He had accepted the fact that Bill had been special in more than one way.

Dipper sighed and realized that his tea had gone cold. He drunk the cold liquid in one swing and then he fished out his phone, because he was still waiting for a message from Wendy.

Only when he unlocked the screen, Dipper could hardly believe his eyes. His hands started to shake heavily and he inhaled sharply.

For a minute he did nothing but stare at the screen, even after it had already turned black again. Holding his breath and with several missed heartbeats Dipper finally dared to open the message.

From: [dreamdemon@gold.](mailto:dreamdemon@gold.de)com

To: M.Pines@gfalls.com

[ _Pine Tree, how was the Muffin?_ _Let the games begin_ _#FLSKHUKXQW*_ ]

Dipper’s eyes became wide and not a second later his head snapped upwards and he quickly scanned the café, until his gaze fell on a man standing on the other side of the street.

He was just about to turn around and Dipper only spotted golden blonde hair, but without any doubt, Dipper knew who he was.

Dipper’s mind went blank and he grabbed his jacket from the chair, run towards the door and out on the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End
> 
> Yes this is the end of this story.  
> I have so many things to say, I don’t even know where to start.  
> First of all thank you for reading, commenting, leaving kudos!!!  
> I hope you liked it, although it was much different from the usual stuff, with lots of magic and fluff.  
> And here we go, because I meant to make it much darker and not so happy, but failed once again.  
> I had plenty of options and ideas, but I had to ask myself only one question: Does Bill love Dipper? If no, then I can make him do terrible things, if yes,...it’s complicated. I can not hurt my baby Dipper ;_;. I...just...can’t! So sorry if you are disappointed, that Dipper still gets a little sort of happy ending. 
> 
> *After shifting the phrase "#FLSKHUKXQW" three letters back, the text reads "#CIPHERHUNT." So maybe I might write a sequel, that revolves around the alternate reality game, that Alex Hirsch had created back in 2016. I’m still so sad that I only found out about this years later :’( and I will never be able to visit the Bill statue.


End file.
